The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has revealed that the amount spent on the importation of petroleum products into Nigeria in 2020 is $43.46bn higher than the revenue which the country earned from the export of petroleum products in the same year.
This was contained In its 2021 report on the latest values of petroleum exports and imports of member nations of OPEC in Abuja on Friday in which it stated that Nigeria exported $27.73bn 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 $71.285bn, which indicated that Nigeria’s petroleum imports exceeded its exports by $43.56bn 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 Nigeria is 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 Nigeria’s refineries have remained dormant for several years, despite repeated turn around maintenance which were done by successive governments on the facilities.
In the latest OPEC data seen on Friday in Abuja, the cartel stated that Nigeria’s petroleum exports were $27.29bn, $37.98bn, $54.51bn and $45.11bn in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively.
On the other hand, the country’s petroleum imports in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 were $46.55bn, $49.51bn, $73.85bn and $93.97bn respectively.
