US reduces crude oil imports from Nigeria by nearly 50% as global energy crisis spreads

The United States significantly cut back on buying Nigerian crude oil in January 2026. According to the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, imports dropped by nearly 47.16% compared to the previous month.

Data from the U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services report shows that U.S. crude imports from Nigeria plummeted to 1.664 million barrels in January 2026, down from 3.149 million barrels in December 2025. This is a decrease of 1.485 million barrels in just one month, highlighting a major shrinkage in Nigeria's slice of the U.S. crude oil market.

The value of these imports also took a steep dive. The customs value of Nigerian crude fell from $217.36 million in December to $115.99 million in January. Similarly, the cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) value dropped from $223.10 million to $118.95 million over the same period. The difference between these two figures accounts for extra costs like shipping and insurance, which are included in CIF values but not in customs valuation.

In January, the CIF value of Nigerian crude was about $2.96 million higher than its customs value. This is a narrower gap compared to December, when the difference was around $5.74 million. This suggests that freight or insurance costs were relatively lower, or perhaps the shipping distances were shorter, during that month.

The U.S. is importing less crude oil overall, and this trend is also affecting Nigeria. Total U.S. crude imports dropped from 198.29 million barrels in December to 188.21 million barrels in January—a decrease of about 5.1%. The value of these imports also went down, with customs values falling from $11.41 billion to $10.56 billion and CIF values decreasing from $12.04 billion to $11.15 billion.

Within Africa, Nigeria is losing some ground compared to its peers. While total African crude exports to the U.S. stayed the same at 6.933 million barrels, Angola saw a big jump, going from 575,000 barrels in December to 2.062 million barrels in January. Ghana also started supplying oil to the U.S. with 738,000 barrels, after not exporting any in December. Meanwhile, Libya’s exports to the U.S. went down from 2.137 million barrels to 1.086 million barrels during this time.

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Nigeria’s share of the total U.S. crude imports has also weakened. The country’s share was about 0.88% in January, down from roughly 1.59% in December, reflecting the sharp drop in the volume of oil it sent to the U.S. Further analysis of U.S. trade data shows that crude oil is still the main part of Nigeria’s exports to the U.S. Total U.S. imports from Nigeria were $183 million in January 2026, compared to $297 million in December 2025.

Crude oil imports from Nigeria were valued at around $115.99 million based on customs figures and $118.95 million on a CIF basis. This means crude oil made up somewhere between 63.4% and 65.0% of all the goods the U.S. imported from Nigeria in January. This is a change from December, when crude oil accounted for about 73.2% of those imports (using customs figures), suggesting crude oil's share isn't quite as dominant now, especially since overall imports from Nigeria have also gone down.

Looking at the broader trade picture, the U.S. actually had a trade surplus with Nigeria in January, totaling $419 million, which is a big jump from the $84 million surplus in December. This improvement was mainly due to U.S. exports to Nigeria increasing significantly, from $381 million to $602 million, even though imports from Nigeria were lower than before.

However, when looking at Africa as a whole, the U.S. trade situation was different. In January, the U.S. had a trade deficit of $503 million with Africa, which was a turn-around from a $174 million surplus in December. Imports from Africa rose noticeably, going from $2.88 billion to $3.54 billion. Meanwhile, U.S. exports to the region were almost flat, falling only slightly from $3.05 billion to $3.04 billion.

Earlier reports from *The PUNCH* mentioned that Nigeria supplied about 52% of the crude oil Africa exported to the U.S. in 2025. According to that report, the total amount of crude oil the U.S. imported from Africa in 2025 was 89.371 million barrels. This was less than the previous year, down from 103.631 million barrels, marking a decrease of 14.26 million barrels, or 13.8%.

Within that total African figure for 2025, Nigeria supplied 46.618 million barrels of crude oil. This was also down from 2024, when Nigeria supplied 50.793 million barrels, representing a drop of 4.175 million barrels, or 8.2%, year-on-year.

Despite the lower volume, Nigeria’s share of Africa’s crude exports to the U.S. rose. In 2025, Nigeria’s 46.618 million barrels accounted for 52.2 per cent of Africa’s total shipments, up from 49.0 per cent in 2024, when it exported 50.793 million barrels out of the continent’s 103.631 million barrels.

According to reports, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited recorded a profit after tax of ₦385bn in January 2026, even as crude oil and condensate production rose to 1.64 million barrels per day, according to the firm’s latest monthly operational report.

The January 2026 NNPC Monthly Report Summary, released on Monday, showed that the state-owned energy company generated ₦2.571 trillion in revenue during the month while remitting ₦726bn as statutory payments to the Federation.

This means the company recorded a sharp 47 per cent decline in its monthly revenue, which fell from ₦4.82tn in December 2025 to ₦2.57tn in January 2026. This contraction occurred despite a marginal increase in the company’s after-tax profit.

It disclosed that Nigeria produced 1.64 million barrels per day, up from 1.55 million barrels per day recorded in December 2025. This represents an increase of 0.09mbpd, or about 5.8 per cent month-on-month.

Last year, Donald Trump signed an executive order raising Nigeria’s tariff rate from 14 per cent to 15 per cent, with Washington implementing its “reciprocal” tariff regime.

The order, issued in late July, took effect on August 7, 2025. Although crude oil has been exempted in several cases, the higher duty applies directly to a wide range of non-oil Nigerian exports, creating uncertainty for American importers and dampening demand ahead of and after the effective date.

With crude oil exports largely exempted from the new tariff regime, non-oil exports appear to have borne the brunt of the disruption.

A renowned economist and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr. Muda Yusuf, downplayed the impact of the U.S. tariffs on Nigeria.

“Our trade with the US is not that strategic. When anything goes wrong, it is not as if it can have any fundamental effect on our economy. Our trade exposure to them is very limited,” Yusuf explained.

He pointed out that most of Nigeria's exports to the US consist of crude oil and a few other goods, like fertilizers. This means the country's trading profile isn't very diverse and hasn't developed much outside of oil, Yusuf explained. He also mentioned that Nigeria's tariff exposure is fairly low compared to many other nations.

But Yusuf highlighted another major issue besides tariffs: US visa policies. "The real hurdle for Nigeria's trade ties with the US is Washington's visa rules," he stated. Restrictions on travel limit business dealings and discourage investment. In the long run, he believes this is a more serious problem than tariffs.

Since the Trump administration began, a series of visa limitations and travel bans targeting Nigeria and other countries have gradually been put in place.