THE amount spent on the importation of petroleum products into Nigeria in 2020 is $43.46b higher than what the country earned from the export of petroleum products in the same year.
This was revealed by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in its 2021 report on the latest values of petroleum exports and imports of member nations in Abuja on Friday, stating that Nigeria exported $27.73b worth of petroleum products in 2020.
More details from the report also revealed that the value of the country’s petroleum imports in 2020 was $71.285b, which indicated that petroleum imports exceeded its exports by $43.56b during the review period.
Analysis of OPEC’s latest petroleum imports and exports’ figures showed that Nigeria’s imports of petroleum products consistently exceeded the nation’s exports for five years.
Although a major producer of crude oil and gas, the country largely depends on imported petroleum products that are refined in foreign nations.
This is because it’s refineries have remained dormant for several years, despite repeated turn around maintenance by successive governments.
In the latest OPEC data, the cartel stated that Nigeria’s petroleum exports were $27.29b, $37.98b, $54.51b and $45.11b in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively.
On the other hand, the country’s petroleum imports in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 were $46.55b, $49.51b, $73.85b, and $93.97b respectively.
