TheCable

Thirteen countries have not purchased Nigeria’s crude since 2016, according to information made available by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

According to the latest Crude Oil by Destination report of the NNPC, Poland, Colombia and Uruguay have not purchased crude from Nigeria since June 2016.

Cape Verde has not purchased any crude from Nigeria since November 2016 while Cotonou, Tunisia and Togo have not made any such purchase since April 2016.

In Asia, Taiwan and Japan have failed to buy crude from Nigeria since April 2016 while in Western Europe, Croatia, Norway, Turkey and Ireland have not purchased crude from Nigeria since April 2016.

Although Portugal and Denmark had also stopped in 2016, they are said to have resumed purchase. The last time Portugal received crude oil from Nigeria was in November 2016 and Denmark, April of the same year.

As at May 2017, 948,000 barrels of Nigeria’s crude had made its way into Portugal and Denmark received 996,079 barrels as at March 2017.

Of late, there have been growing concerns over the continued profitability of Nigeria’s crude sales, as several countries are planning to phase out diesel and petrol cars from their roads in the distant future.

India, the highest-purchasing country

The report also showed that India bought the largest share of Nigeria’s crude, getting 136.5 million barrels between May 2016 and May 2017.

In Africa, South Africa bought the largest share of Nigeria’s crude, getting 42.4 million barrels between May 2016 and May 2017.

Nigeria’s export to East Asia was boosted by the resumption of import by Malaysia.

It bought 1.9 million barrels of Nigerian crude in January 2017 but didn’t purchase it again until May when 948,000 barrels of Nigerian crude were shipped to the country.