U.S. Shells Out $578 Million for Nigerian Crude in Q1 2026 Despite 15% Drop – Report

The United States imported $578.78 million worth of crude oil from Nigeria in the first three months of 2026, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

While still a substantial figure, this marks a 15.06% decline from the $681.40 million recorded during the same period in 2025.

The March 2026 international trade report reveals that U.S. purchases of Nigerian crude (calculated on a Cost, Insurance, and Freight basis) fell by $102.62 million year-on-year. In volume terms, America bought 7.84 million barrels from Nigeria in Q1 2026, down from 8.44 million barrels in Q1 2025 a 7.03% drop.

Month-on-month data showed an even steeper slide: after importing 4.64 million barrels in February 2026, U.S. imports plunged to just 1.54 million barrels in March, with the value crashing from $345.33 million to $114.49 million over the same period.

Despite the decline, Nigeria remains a key player in Africa’s crude exports to the U.S. However, its share of total U.S. crude imports from Africa shrank dramatically from about 61.7% in Q1 2025 to roughly 34.8% in Q1 2026 as rivals like Libya and Ghana gained ground.

Total U.S. crude imports from Africa actually rose from $1.10 billion to $1.66 billion over the same timeframe.

Back home, Nigeria’s state-run NNPC reported its own challenges: crude sales fell to 17.37 million barrels in March, down from 22.85 million in February and 25.75 million in January.

A leak on the Trans Forcados Pipeline outaged from February 20 to March 25 was blamed for significant production curtailments. Output remained flat at 1.56 million barrels per day in March, though that was a slight improvement from January’s 1.51 million bpd.

NNPC said it is now executing recovery plans to fix pipeline reliability and evacuation bottlenecks, aiming to stabilize output in the coming months.