– Imports aviation fuel, LPG from US, India, Togo

Michael Eboh

Dublin Ireland — Nigerian earned N1.862 trillion from the export of natural gas and other gas products in the first quarter of 2024, latest data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed.

The NBS, its Foreign Trade Statistics for the First Quarter of 2024, stated that earnings from gas exports in the quarter under review was 48.13 per cent higher than the N1.257 trillion earned from the sale of the commodities in the previous quarter.

Giving a breakdown of the commodities exported in the first quarter of 2024, the NBS noted that natural gas accounted for 8.75 per cent of total exports with N1.677 trillion, while other petroleum gas products accounted for 0.97 per cent of total exports with N185.045 billion.

In comparison, the statistics agency stated that in the fourth quarter of 2023, natural gas exports stood at N1.016 trillion; other petroleum gas products exports stood at N150.662 billion, while the export of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), fetched the country N90.705 billion.

In the first quarter of 2024, the NBS noted that N275.527 billion worth of natural gas was exported to Spain; N226.942 billion worth of the commodity was exported to France; while the country exported N170.75 billion worth of natural gas to Belgium.

On the other hand, the NBS reported that the country spent N194.68 billion on the importation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and N131.709 billion on the import of Dual-Purpose Kerosene (DPK), also known as aviation fuel, in the first quarter of 2024.

In comparison, in the fourth quarter of 2023, the country spent N239.175 billion on the importation of aviation fuel, while there was no record of LPG import in the period.

The United States accounted for 86.32 per cent of total LPG imported into Nigeria, with N168.05 billion, LPG imports from Togo, Nigeria’s West African neighbour, stood at N8.288 billion.

In addition, majority of Nigeria’s aviation fuel import —N100.701 billion — was sourced from India; while N31.002 billion aviation fuel was imported into Nigeria from Togo.

Giving a general overview of economic activities in the quarter under review, the NBS added that: “Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at N31.811 trillion in the first quarter of 2024. This represents an increase of 46.27 over the value recorded in the preceding quarter and rose by 145.58 per cent compared to the value recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.

“Data revealed that export accounted for 60.25 per cent of total trade in the reviewed quarter with a value of N19.167 trillion, showing an increase of 51 per cent compared to the value recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023 (N12.694 trillion) and by 195.47 per cent over the value recorded in the first quarter of 2023 (N6.487 trillion).

“On the other hand, the share of total imports accounted for 39.75 per cent of total trade in the first quarter of 2024 with the value of imports amounting to N12.643 trillion in first-quarter 2024. This value indicates an increase of 39.65 per cent over the value recorded in fourth-quarter 2023 (N9.054 trillion) and rose by 95.53 per cent compared to the value recorded in first-quarter 2023 (N6.466 trillion). The merchandise trade balance for first-quarter 2024 stood positive at N6.524 trillion.”