Asia, Europe Rushing Nigerian Crude, As Export To U.S. In Record Fall

'Dotun Akintomide
Writer

Ad

Tinubu Departs Brazil for Nigeria After State Visit

By Abiola Olawale President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has concluded a three-day state visit to Brazil, departing the country for Abuja on Wednesday, August 27, 2025. The New Diplomat reports that the presidential jet took off from Brasília International Airport Air Force Base, with a ceremonial send-off attended by Brazil’s Secretary for Africa and the Middle…

President’s son jailed 6 years in fraud case as power tussle soars in Equatorial Guinea

• Two brothers at war over who succeeds Nguema Mbasogo By Obinna Uballa An Equatorial Guinea court has sentenced Ruslan Obiang Nsue, son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, to six years in prison for illegally selling a plane belonging to the state airline, Ceiba Intercontinental, a case analysts say reflects growing rivalry within the…

Details: Why Roosevelt Ogbonna Quit Access HoldCo board

• He remains Bank MD, Says Access By Obinna Uballa Access Holdings Plc has explained that Mr. Roosevelt Ogbonna, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, resigned from the Board of the HoldCo to comply with regulatory guidelines issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The company, in a statement signed…

Ad

— With Agency Report

U.S. crude oil imports from Nigeria in July plunged to the lowest level in three years and are continuing to slip as Asian and European buyers increase purchases, trade flow data from Thomson Reuters and market intelligence firms Genscape and Kpler show.

A narrowing spread between benchmark Brent and Oman crude futures, trading at less than $2 a barrel compared with more than $4 in May, has made Nigerian crude more attractive to Asian buyers than U.S. refiners.

World Energy News, quoting Thomson Reuters trade flow data said Nigerian crude exports to Asia hit 664,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July, the highest in two years.

That shift cut Nigerian crude arriving at the U.S. East Coast in July to 1.3 million barrels, or about 43,000 bpd, the lowest since June 2015. That was down from 7.3 million barrels, or 244,596 bpd, in June, according to the trade flow data. The East Coast refiners have limited access to shale flowing from Western fields and tend to run imported crude.

The decline is poised to continue. August U.S. arrivals from Nigeria are tracking to 91,800 bpd, according to the flow data, down from 242,000 bpd in the same month last year.

“The drop in Nigerian crude appears driven by price spreads, with less crude being pulled into the U.S. and more heading to Asia in recent months,” said Matt Smith, director of commodities research at tanker tracking firm ClipperData.

European imports of Nigerian crude also rose in July, to 602,000 bpd, from 419,000 bpd the previous month, according to Thomson Reuters.

Only two oil tankers, the Marshall Islands-flagged Seacharm and the Liberia-flagged Pserimos chartered by oil trader Vitol SA, carried Nigerian crude to the U.S. East Coast in July, discharging in Philadelphia and Delaware Bay. That was down from eight tankers in June, the data show.

U.S. East Coast refiners took in slightly more domestic waterborne shipments from the Gulf Coast, adding 16,000 bpd between June and July. Deliveries from Algeria, Russia and Canada also helped offset the drop from Nigeria, increasing by a combined 181,000 bpd in July, according to Genscape.

“The lion’s share of the decrease in incoming Nigerian imports to the East Coast was offset by imports from other countries,” said Dylan White, a Genscape oil markets analyst.

Ad

X whatsapp