The United States became a net exporter of crude oil to Nigeria in February and March, as crude demand on the U.S. East Coast slowed due to refinery maintenance, and the Dangote refinery drove up Nigeria’s demand for inputs.
A note by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday said gross U.S. exports of crude to Nigeria touched 111,000 b/d in February and 169,000 b/d in March. Imports, which were at 133,000 b/d in January, dropped to 54,000 b/d and 72,000 b/d in February and March, respectively.
This is the first time that the U.S. has exported more crude oil to Nigeria than it imported. Nigeria is generally considered a source for U.S. crude oil imports, ranking ninth last year.
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The decline in imports is largely due to maintenance at the Phillips 66 Bayway refinery in New Jersey, per the EIA.
However, imports increased later in the year as the Bayway refinery resumed normal operations in April, and Dangote underwent some unplanned maintenance.
“In nearly every year between 1973, when our country-level crude oil import data series began, and 2011, when an increase in domestic crude oil production reduced the need for light, sweet crude oil from Nigeria and other countries, Nigeria ranked among the top five sources of U.S. crude oil imports. More recently, Nigeria ranked ninth among U.S. crude oil import sources in 2024,” the Agency wrote.
