Refined petroleum product exports rose by 66.24% in the second quarter of 2026, helping to push Nigeria’s current account surplus to $7.54 billion.
Data analysed by Nairametrics Research, culled from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Balance of Payments highlights for Q2 2026, showed that earnings from crude oil, gas, and refined petroleum products rose to $16.96 billion during the quarter.
This compares with $13.07 billion in Q1 2026 and $12.55 billion in Q2 2025, representing a 29.76% quarter-on-quarter increase and a 35.14% year-on-year rise. The stronger hydrocarbon exports, combined with lower petroleum imports, improved Nigeria’s trade balance and supported foreign exchange earnings during the period.
According to the CBN data, total exports under the goods account increased to $20.08 billion in Q2 2026. This represents a 29.1% increase from $15.56 billion in Q1 2026 and a 34.8% rise from $14.90 billion in Q2 2025.
The strongest contribution came from crude oil, gas, and refined petroleum products, which generated $16.96 billion during the quarter.
This translates to a 29.1% decline quarter-on-quarter and a 63.1% decrease year-on-year.
The combination of rising petroleum-related exports and lower imports meant Nigeria generated a net $15.72 billion from the three petroleum categories in Q2 2026, strengthening the goods account surplus to $10.12 billion from $5.96 billion in Q1 2026.
Crude oil exports remained the largest contributor within the petroleum export basket during the quarter. Export earnings from crude oil increased to $9.39 billion in Q2 2026, up from $8.11 billion in Q1 2026, representing a 15.78% quarter-on-quarter increase.
NUPRC also reported that 53.7 million barrels of crude oil and condensate were supplied to local refiners between April and June 2026, representing a Q2 performance of 97.4% under the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation framework.
Nigeria also imported considerably less crude oil during the quarter, as crude oil imports fell to $580 million in Q2 2026 from $1.39 billion in Q1 2026, representing a 58.27% decline.
Natural gas also contributed significantly to the increase in petroleum export earnings. Gas export earnings rose to $3.63 billion in Q2 2026 from $2.59 billion in the preceding quarter, representing a 40.2% quarter-on-quarter increase.
The improvement reflects stronger international demand for liquefied natural gas, as well as Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to monetise its vast gas reserves.
The most notable development in the quarter was the sharp rise in refined petroleum product exports. Earnings from refined petroleum product exports climbed to $3.94 billion in Q2 2026, compared with $2.37 billion in Q1 2026, representing an increase of 66.24%.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that Nigeria’s petroleum product exports rose from an average of 46,000 barrels per day in 2023 to 146,000 barrels per day in 2024.
The EIA also reported that petroleum product imports averaged about 376,000 barrels per day between 2020 and 2024.
For years, Nigeria exported crude oil while spending billions of dollars importing refined petroleum products for domestic consumption. The Q2 2026 data show a shift in the petroleum trade structure, driven by rising domestic refining activity, particularly from the Dangote refinery, higher refined product exports, and reduced dependence on imported petroleum products.
