Petrol exports generated N998.50 billion between January and June, according to foreign trade data from Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics.
Of that amount, N621.72 billion came from exports to African trading partners, meaning the continent accounted for more than 60% of Nigeria’s petrol-export earnings during the period.
The figures represent a striking reversal for a country that, despite being one of Africa’s biggest crude oil producers, historically depended heavily on imported petrol because its state-owned refineries could not meet domestic demand.
That equation has begun changing following the start-up and expansion of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
From major importer to African supplier
Petrol generated N546.02 billion in export earnings in the second quarter alone, becoming Nigeria’s seventh-largest export commodity and accounting for 2.02% of total exports.
A year earlier, Nigeria earned just N85.83 billion from petrol exports during the comparable second quarter, meaning the value of exports increased more than sixfold.
The transformation is even more notable when set against Nigeria’s recent import bill.
Petrol did not feature among the country’s major exports in the first quarter of 2025. Instead, Nigeria spent about N1.76 trillion importing it during that quarter.
The shift coincides with the ramp-up of Dangote’s 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery near Lagos, which has increasingly supplied both Nigeria and overseas markets.
The development has implications beyond Nigeria. African countries have historically imported substantial quantities of refined petroleum products from trading hubs and refineries outside the continent despite Africa’s large crude reserves.
Nigeria’s growing export capacity provides regional buyers with another large-scale source closer to home, particularly across West and Central Africa.
Refined products rise in Nigeria’s export mix
Crude oil remains overwhelmingly Nigeria’s biggest export. The country exported N12.91 trillion of crude in the second quarter, representing 47.79% of total exports.
But refined and processed petroleum products are increasingly visible alongside crude.
Kerosene-type jet fuel generated N2.94 trillion, gas oil N1.32 trillion and petrol N546.02 billion during the quarter, according to the NBS figures.
The shift follows years in which Nigeria largely captured value from crude production while spending billions of dollars buying back refined products.
It also builds on a broader increase in Nigeria’s seaborne petroleum-product exports.
The US Energy Information Administration reported earlier that Nigeria’s seaborne petroleum-product exports had risen from about 46,000 barrels per day in 2023 to roughly 350,000 barrels per day by the second quarter of 2026, largely following the start-up of the Dangote refinery.