Govt earns N2.5trn from petroleum exports in Q2 – NBS

• By Oscarline Onwuemenyi

The Nigerian government earned N2.512 trillion from the export of petroleum products in three months, between April and June 2015, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.

The NBS, in its Foreign Trade Statistics for the Second Quarter of 2015, also stated that the country recorded total merchandise trade of N4.372 trillion and a trade surplus of N1.4 trillion in the months under review.

Giving a breakdown of Nigeria’s merchandise trade, the NBS stated that Nigeria’s total export stood at N2.879 trillion, while total import stood at N1.49 trillion, thereby, leading to a trade surplus of N1.39 trillion.


The value of total merchandise trade, according to the NBS, was 0.5 per cent less than the total of ₦4.393 trillion recorded in the first quarter of 2014 and 34.3 per cent or N2.287 trillion less than the amount recorded in the second quarter of 2014.

In addition, the report stated that at N2.879 trillion, Nigeria’s total export appreciated by 8.0 per cent or N214.1 billion when compared with the value of exports in the first quarter of 2015, while it represented a decline of N1.8 trillion or 38.5 per cent when compared with total exports of N4.682 trillion recorded in the second quarter of 2014.

The report noted that the amount the country earned from petroleum products sale in the second quarter of 2015, was 56.8 per cent of the country’s N4.49 trillion 2015 budget.

Also the amount earned from the export of petroleum products accounted for 57.5 per cent of Nigeria’s total merchandise trade and 87.3 per cent of total export.

The NBS data revealed that the country exported petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals and crude oil valued at N2.121 trillion; liquefied natural gas valued at N260.7 billion, while liquefied petroleum gas and other gaseous hydrocarbons valued at N66.41 billion was also exported.
Others are: liquefied propane — N43.88 billion, partially refined oil including crude oil having gone primary refinement —N13.577 billion and liquefied butanes — N6.15 billion.