U.S. Cuts Q1 Nigerian Crude Imports 15% to $578.78 Million as Pipeline Outage, Rivals Bite
Updated
Updated · Business Insider Africa · May 11
U.S. Cuts Q1 Nigerian Crude Imports 15% to $578.78 Million as Pipeline Outage, Rivals Bite
6 articles · Updated · Business Insider Africa · May 11
U.S. purchases of Nigerian crude fell to $578.78 million and 7.84 million barrels in Q1 2026, down 15.06% and 7.03% from a year earlier.
The drop was driven by Nigeria's Trans Forcados Pipeline outage, which NNPC said curtailed output from Feb. 20 to March 25 after a leak at the Keremor axis.
March imports slumped to 1.54 million barrels from 4.64 million in February, while import value dropped to $114.49 million from $345.33 million.
Nigeria still remained a leading African supplier to the U.S., but its share of U.S. African crude imports fell to 34.8% from 61.7% as Libya and Ghana gained ground.
That erosion came even as total U.S. oil imports from Africa rose to $1.66 billion in Q1 2026 from $1.10 billion a year earlier, underscoring a broader supplier shift.
As Libya's oil production surges, is Nigeria's reign as America's top African supplier over?
With billions in lost revenue, can Nigeria fix its broken oil sector before competitors make it irrelevant?