Nigeria spent $1.39bn on foreign crude in Q1, says report

Nigeria imported $1.39 billion of crude oil in the first quarter of 2026, a substantial 308.82 percent increase from the previous quarter's $340 million. This surge occurred even as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery increasingly sourced its feedstock from international markets, despite Nigeria's position as Africa's largest crude oil producer.

The data from the Central Bank of Nigeria's Balance of Payments Highlights for Q1 2026 reveals that crude oil imports constituted about 81.8 percent of the nation's total imports of crude oil, gas, and refined petroleum products, which amounted to $1.70 billion during the period. This trend highlights a growing reliance on imported crude for domestic refining operations.

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Refined petroleum products imports declined to $0.31bn in Q1 2026, from $2.48bn in Q4 2025.

Conversely, imports of refined petroleum products plummeted by 87.5 percent to $310 million in Q1 2026, down from $2.48 billion in the preceding quarter. This sharp decline is attributed to the expanding domestic refining capacity, particularly the Dangote refinery, which is substituting imported fuels with locally refined products. The CBN noted that this reduction in fuel imports significantly strengthened Nigeria's external position.

The rise in domestic refining also led to an increase in refined petroleum product exports, which grew by 20.3 percent to $2.37 billion in Q1 2026. This suggests Nigeria is transitioning from a net importer to a notable exporter of refined products. The country's goods account surplus also saw a significant rise to $5.95 billion in the first quarter of 2026, supported by higher crude oil export earnings.

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The Goods account (a major sub-account in the current account) recorded a significantly higher surplus of $5.95bn in Q1 2026, as against $1.77bn and $3.35bn recorded in the preceding quarter and corresponding period of 2025.