The United States imported crude oil worth approximately $578.78 million from Nigeria in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting a decline from the $681.40 million recorded during the same period in 2025, according to newly released trade data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The figures, contained in the agencies’ March 2026 international trade report, showed that the value of Nigerian crude shipped to the U.S. on a Cost, Insurance and Freight basis fell by $102.62 million year-on-year, representing a decrease of about 15.1 per cent.
Data from the report also indicated a decline in crude oil volumes exported from Nigeria to the U.S. market during the period under review.
The United States imported about 7.84 million barrels of Nigerian crude between January and March 2026, compared to 8.44 million barrels in the corresponding period of 2025. The drop represents a reduction of approximately 590,000 barrels or 7.03 per cent.
On a monthly basis, imports declined significantly between February and March 2026. U.S. crude purchases from Nigeria stood at 4.64 million barrels in February before falling to 1.54 million barrels in March, suggesting weaker short-term demand patterns and supply-related adjustments.
The value of imports also mirrored the decline in shipment volumes, with the CIF value dropping from $345.33 million in February to $114.49 million in March.
Customs value figures, which exclude freight and insurance costs, followed a similar trend. Nigerian crude exports to the U.S. recorded a customs value of $561.69 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared to $663.79 million during the same period in 2025, representing a decline of $102.10 million or 15.38 per cent.
Despite the drop, Nigeria maintained its position as one of Africa’s major crude oil suppliers to the United States, although competition from other African exporters increased during the quarter.
Overall, U.S. crude imports from Africa rose to $1.66 billion in Q1 2026 from $1.10 billion recorded in the same period of 2025, reflecting changing supply dynamics among oil-producing countries on the continent.
Nigeria’s share of total African crude exports to the U.S. declined to about 34.8 per cent during the quarter, down from roughly 61.7 per cent a year earlier, amid stronger contributions from countries including Libya and Ghana.
Industry analysts noted that Nigeria’s light sweet crude grades continue to retain relevance within the American refining market despite the reduction in import volumes.
The U.S. trade report stated that the import figures reflect the total landed cost of crude shipments, including freight and insurance charges, providing a broader assessment of trade flows than customs values alone.
The decline in U.S. demand for Nigerian crude coincided with lower crude sales volumes reported by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in recent months.
According to NNPCL’s latest operational report, crude oil sales dropped to 17.37 million barrels in March 2026 from 22.85 million barrels in February and 25.75 million barrels in January.
Production levels, however, remained relatively stable at 1.56 million barrels per day in March, unchanged from February but slightly above the 1.51 million barrels per day recorded in January.
NNPCL attributed part of the production and evacuation challenges to disruptions along the Trans Forcados Pipeline.
The company stated that the pipeline outage caused by a leak around the Keremor axis affected production volumes and resulted in supply curtailments across several oil assets between February 20 and March 25.
Despite the operational setbacks, NNPCL said it has continued to implement recovery measures aimed at improving asset reliability, addressing evacuation bottlenecks, and stabilising crude oil output levels across the sector.