The volume of crude oil imported by the United States from Nigeria had a downward slide by 61.7% in the first quarter of this year relative to the last quarter of 2019 according to data obtained from U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday.
The U.S. imported 5.872 million barrels of crude oil from Nigeria in Q1 2020, down from the 15.345 million barrels reported in Q4 2019.
It has substantially reduced the quantity of its oil import from Nigeria in the past few years because the oil produced in the U.S. shale operations is close to the light sweet Nigerian crude.
An expansion in shale oil production has hurt Nigeria’s oil exportation to the U.S., which once accounted for the purchase of between 40 to 50 per cent of Nigeria’s cargoes.
Nigeria’s oil exportation to the U.S. reached 358.92 million barrels in 2010 but crashed to 280.08 million barrels in 2011.