Ike Amos
30 December 2018, Sweetcrude, Abuja — Nigeria spent N1.016 trillion importing petroleum products in the third quarter of 2018, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.
The NBS, in its third quarter 2018 Foreign Trade Statistics, declared that Nigeria’s petroleum products import appreciated significantly by 41.03 percent from N720.4 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2018.
For July, August and September 2018, the NBS report stated that N343.25 billion, N378 billion and N295.03 billion fuel was imported respectively, compared to N241.61 billion, N225.15 billion and N276.06 billion recorded in July, August and September of 2017 respectively.
Giving a breakdown of some of the imported petroleum products, the NBS report explained that N854.59 billion was spent on the importation of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol, while N80.13 billion worth of gas oil was imported.
In addition, lubricating oil import stood at N32.46 billion, while kerosene/jet fuel import stood at N17.77 billion in the period under review.
The report further disclosed that fuel import in the third quarter of 2018, accounted for 24.4 percent of Nigeria’s total imports in the period under review.
Specifically, the report stated that total imports into Nigeria in the third quarter of 2018 stood at N4.172 billion, rising by 73.8 percent from N2.4 trillion in the second quarter of 2018.
In addition to the N1.016 trillion spent on fuel import in the quarter under review, the report stated that N1.94 trillion was spent on the importation of machinery and transport equipment, representing 46.5 percent of total import, while chemical and related products accounted for N388.3 billion or 9.3 percent of the total imports during the quarter under review.
The report further attributed the sharp rise in total import in the third quarter to the importation of an oil rig. Particularly, the report said the floating or submersible drilling or production platforms worth N1.159 trillion was imported from South Korea in August 2018.
“In the same way, there was a rise of 67.7 percent when compared with the import value of the corresponding quarter in 2017. The huge increase in import value during the quarter resulted in a decrease in the country’s trade balance from N2.103 trillion in the second quarter to N681.3 billion in the third quarter representing a decrease of 67.6 percent. The year to date total trade amounted to N23.14 trillion,” the report noted.
