Fresh trade data reveals a cooling relationship between American refineries and Nigerian crude oil during the first quarter of 2026. The United States slashed its intake of Nigerian barrels to 7.84 million, a 7.03% dip from the 8.44 million barrels recorded during the same window in 2025. This contraction represents a physical loss of roughly 590,000 barrels in year-over-year trade.
The downturn became particularly acute between February and March of this year. Monthly imports experienced a steep drop-off, falling from 4.64 million barrels in February to just 1.54 million in March. This volume slump triggered a corresponding slide in financial value; the Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) value of these imports tumbled from $345.33 million to $114.49 million within just thirty days.
A Shifting African Landscape
While Nigeria’s light sweet crude remains a staple for U.S. refiners, its dominance on the continent is under pressure. Despite total U.S. spending on African oil rising to $1.66 billion in Q1 2026, Nigeria’s slice of that pie has narrowed significantly. Its market share among African suppliers plummeted from 61.7% last year to just 34.8% this quarter, as aggressive competition from Libya and Ghana reshaped American sourcing patterns.
Infrastructure Bottlenecks
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has pointed to domestic operational failures as a primary cause for the supply dip. A critical leak along the Keremor axis of the Trans Forcados Pipeline forced a month-long disruption between February 20 and March 25. This outage led to widespread production curtailments across several major assets, preventing Nigeria from maintaining its usual export momentum during a period of high regional competition.
On a broader scale, Nigeria’s year-to-date customs value for crude exports to the U.S. (excluding freight and insurance) closed at $561.69 million, marking a 15.38% decline compared to the $663.79 million generated in the first quarter of 2025.
