The United States’ import of Nigeria crude oil plunged by 43.6 per cent in November 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.
According to imports statistics obtained from the United States Energy Information Administration, the US imported 3.57 million barrels of crude from Nigeria in November 2020, down from 6.33 million barrels in November 2019.
The data also showed that Nigeria imported 0.925 million barrels of crude from Nigeria in October 2020, down from 3.96 million barrels in October 2019.
Booming production from shale, similar to Nigeria’s light sweet crude, drastically cut Nigerian exports to the US, which was once the destination for about 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the country’s cargoes.
Following the coronavirus-induced crash in oil prices and demand, Nigeria has been struggling to sell its crude oil cargoes.
Prior to the lockdowns and collapse in crude oil demand caused by coronavirus crisis, the rise of US shale oil was already proving uniquely challenging for Nigeria.
The US imports of Nigerian crude fell from 148.48 million barrels in 2012 to 87.40 million barrels in 2013 on the back of shale oil boom.
In 2014, when global oil prices started to fall from a peak of $115 per barrel, Nigeria saw a further drop in US imports of its crude to 21.24 million barrels.
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For the first time in decades, the US did not purchase any barrel of Nigerian crude in July and August 2014 as well as June 2015, according to the EIA data.
In 2010, the US bought as much as 358.92 million barrels from Nigeria, but slashed its imports to 280.08 million barrels in 2011.
The government lowered its outlook for US crude oil production in 2021, with expected output set to average 11.02 million barrels per day for the year, the US EIA said.
