The United States became a net exporter of crude oil to Nigeria in February and March, as crude demand on the United States East Coast slowed due to refinery maintenance.

The US Energy Information Administration said in a note on Tuesday that the Dangote refinery drove up Nigeria’s demand for US crude. Reuters reports that this is the first time that the US has exported more crude oil to Nigeria than it imported.

Nigeria used to be generally considered a source for US crude oil imports, ranking ninth last year.

The Dangote refinery began processing crude in January 2024 after years of delays. The refinery is set to reach an upgraded capacity of 700,000 barrels per day by December.

It was said that Nigeria’s crude export to the US was 133,000bpd in January. But this dropped to 54,000bpd and 72,000bpd in February and March.

However, the crude from the US to Nigeria was 111,000 bpd in February and 169,000 bpd in March.

“Gross US exports of crude to Nigeria touched 111,000 bpd in February and 169,000 bpd in March. Imports, which were at 133,000 bpd in January, dropped to 54,000 bpd and 72,000 bpd in February and March, respectively,” the report said.

It was added that the decline in imports was largely due to maintenance at the Phillips 66 Bayway refinery in New Jersey, according to EIA.

“However, imports increased later in the year as the Bayway refinery resumed normal operations in April, and Dangote underwent some unplanned maintenance,” the report said.

This trend seems more like a snapshot of a very fluid market, rather than a permanent realignment, according to a senior market strategist at RJO Futures, Eli Tesfaye.

“The new refinery in Nigeria and some issues in securing domestic supplies played a role in those unique flows earlier this year. But going forward, with the refinery now aiming to secure domestic flows, and probably looking at other crude grades, it is difficult to forecast if the volume flowing from the US to Nigeria will persist,“ agreed Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS.

The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said the refinery imported up to 10 million barrels of crude oil from the US monthly.