Ike Amos
11 July 2018, Sweetcrude, Abuja — Nigeria exported Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, valued at N482.54 billion in the first quarter of 2018, according to latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.
The NBS, in its first quarter 2018 Foreign Trade Statistics, stated that LNG export in the quarter under review appreciated by 15.83 per cent from N416.588 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017.
In addition, the report stated that the country exported other petroleum gases valued at N30.754 billion, rising by 8.21 per cent from N28.42 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017; while other medium petroleum oil export slumped by 53.5 per cent to N5.73 billion from N12.32 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Also, Nigeria earned N3.58 trillion from the export of crude oil in the quarter under review, rising by 9.98 per cent from N3.255 trillion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017.
In general, the report noted that Nigeria’s total export stood at N4.7 trillion, rising by 20.02 per cent and 56.01 per cent over fourth quarter 2017 and first quarter 2017 crude oil export respectively.
The report added that Nigeria’s export in the first quarter of 2017 was dominated by crude oil, noting however, that the proportion of non-crude oil export increased from 17 per cent in the last quarter to approximately 24 per cent in the review quarter.
The report said: “The value of crude oil export at N3.58 trillion in the first quarter of 2018, which accounted for 76.3 per cent of the total exports from Nigeria.
“In the review quarter, mineral products accounted for N4.14 trillion or 88.28 per cent of the total export from Nigeria. This category of export saw a 10.05 per cent growth from the previous quarter, and as in previous quarters, it was dominated by crude oil exports.
‘The second largest component of export was machinery and transport equipment, which recorded N389.74 billion or 8.30 per cent of the total export in the review quarter. This was a sharp increase from N12.47 billion as recorded in the last quarter of 2017.”
Continuing, the NBS report noted that in the first quarter of 2018, Europe and Asia remained the top two export destination continents, recording N2.284 trillion and N1.311 trillion respectively, adding that value of exports to these two continents showed a steady growth of 48.47 per cent and 26.81 per cent respectively compared to the previous quarter.
