Ike Amos
Lagos — Nigeria earned N429.563 billion from gas exports in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
This, the NBS noted, was 26.14 per cent higher than the N340.553 billion recorded in the export of gas in the third quarter of 2020.
In its Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics for the Fourth Quarter of 2020, the NBS stated that the total gas exports, which appeared among the top 15 exports of the country, accounted for 13.45 per cent of Nigeria’s total exports of N3.195 trillion recorded in the period under review.
The NBS noted that Nigeria earned N370.883 billion from the export of Liquefied Natural Gas, representing 11.61 per cent of the country’s total export and the second biggest export in the period.
Other petroleum gases export, according to the NBS, stood at N48.59 billion, accounting for 1.52 per cent of the country’s total export value, and ranked fourth on the list of imports.
Liquefied propane export trailed with N10.09 billion in in the quarter under review, representing 0.32 per cent of the country’s total export and ranked as the eighth biggest import in the fourth quarter.
It noted that crude oil remained the country’s number one export, accounting for 78.93 per cent of total export in the fourth quarter of 2020, with N2.521 trillion.
Other major export related to the energy sector, in the quarter under review, according to the NBS included floating or submersible drilling or production platforms, urea, dredgers and electrical energy, with export value of N86.952 billion, N29.092 billion, N7.245 billion and N4.91 billion, respectively.
These items, the NBS noted, accounted for 2.72 per cent, 0.91 per cent, 0.23 per cent and 0.15 per cent; and ranked as the third, fifth, ninth and thirteenth most exported items in the fourth quarter of 2020, respectively.
In general, the NBS noted that “In the fourth quarter of 2020, Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at N9.12 trillion, representing 8.9 per cent over the level recorded in the third quarter of 2020 but was 9.9 per cent lower when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
“The value of trade in fourth quarter was the highest recorded over the past year. The export component of trade stood at N3.194 trillion, an increase of 6.7 per cent over the preceding quarter, but a drop of 33 per cent over the previous year. Further, the share of exports in total trade declined to 35 per cent in fourth quarter 2020 from 47 per cent a year earlier.
“On the other hand, total imports reached a record high at N5.926 rillion in fourth 2020, an increase of 10.1 per cent over the preceding quarter, and 10.8 per cent over the preceding year. Imports also accounted for 65 per cent of total trade in fourth quarter 2020, compared to 53 per cent.”