Di United States turn net exporter of crude oil to Nigeria for February and March, as demand for crude oil for US East Coast reduce sake of refinery maintenance, and di Dangote refinery increase Nigeria demand for crude inputs, na wetin di US Energy Information Administration tok for one note on Tuesday.

Dis na di first time wey US go export more crude oil to Nigeria pass wetin dem dey import. Normally, Nigeria dey among di countries wey US dey import crude oil from, and last year Nigeria rank number nine for di list.

Nigeria Dangote oil refinery – wey be di biggest for Africa and dey for di outskirts of Lagos – start to process crude oil for January 2024 after many years of delay. Di refinery dey plan to reach full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day dis year, according to wetin EIA tok.

US crude oil export to Nigeria reach 111,000 barrels per day for February and 169,000 barrels per day for March. Meanwhile, di import wey be 133,000 barrels per day for January, drop go 54,000 barrels per day for February and 72,000 barrels per day for March.

Di drop for import na because of maintenance wey dem do for di Phillips 66 Bayway refinery for New Jersey, na wetin EIA tok. But later for di year, import increase as di Bayway refinery resume normal operation for April, and Dangote refinery sef get some unplanned maintenance.

Dis kain trend no sure say e go last, as market dey change well well, na wetin Eli Tesfaye, senior market strategist for RJO Futures, tok.

“Di new refinery for Nigeria and di wahala to secure domestic supply na wetin cause di unique flow wey we see earlier dis year. But going forward, as di refinery dey plan to secure domestic supply and fit dey look other crude grades, e go hard to predict if di volume wey dey flow from US to Nigeria go continue,” Giovanni Staunovo, wey be analyst for UBS, tok.