Ike Amos
Dublin, Ireland — Nigeria earned N524.928 billion from the export of gas in different forms in the first quarter of 2021, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS, in its First Quarter 2021 Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics, noted that the value of Nigeria’s gas exports in the quarter under review represented an increase of 1.98 per cent compared with the N514.741 billion worth of the commodity exported in the first quarter of 2020.
The first quarter 2021 gas export earnings were also 22.1 per cent higher than the N429.565 billion earned from the export of the same commodity in the fourth quarter of 2020, the statistics agency revealed.
The agency further stated that in the quarter under review, the export of these gas commodities accounted for 18.05 per cent of Nigeria’s total export earnings in the period.
This was in comparison with the first quarter of 2020 and fourth quarter of 2020 figures, where gas exports accounted for 12.6 per cent and 13.45 per cent, respectively, of the country’s total export earnings.
Giving a breakdown of the various gas exports, the NBS noted that Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) accounted for 15.67 per cent of Nigeria’s total exports in the first quarter of 2021, with the country earning N455.666 billion from its exports.
Other petroleum gases followed with the export of N56.997 billion worth of the commodity, representing 1.96 per cent of the country’s total export in the period under review; while liquefied propane export stood at N12.265 billion, representing 0.42 per cent of Nigeria’s total exports in the first quarter of 2021.
In comparison, in the first quarter of 2020, LNG export stood at N480.248 billion; other petroleum gases export N27.056 billion and liquefied propane export fetched the country N7.44 billion; representing 11.76 per cent, 0.66 per cent and 0.18 per cent, respectively, of Nigeria’s total export in the same period.
Also, in the fourth quarter of 2020, LNG, other petroleum gases and liquefied propane exports accounted for 11.61 per cent, 1.52 per cent and 0.32 per cent of Nigeria’s total export, with N370.88 billion, N48.59 billion and N10.09 billion, respectively.
Furthermore, the NBS disclosed that Nigeria earned N1.93 trillion from the export of crude oil in the first quarter of 2021, representing a drop of 34.35 per cent compared with crude oil export earnings of N2.944 trillion recorded in the first quarter of 2020; and also represented a decline of 23.41 per cent compared with crude oil export of N2.52 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The NBS put Nigeria’s total foreign trade in the first quarter of 2021 at N9.758 trillion, appreciating by 6.99 per cent from N9.12 trillion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020.
It added that total exports stood at N2.907 trillion, representing 29.79 per cent of the total trade while import was valued at N6.850 trillion representing 70.21 per cent of total trade.
