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Nigeria is third largest oil exporter to U.S.
From Laolu Akande, New York
 

NIGERIA has moved up the ladder as the third largest exporter of crude oil to the United States (U.S.).

At the end of March this year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said that Nigeria overtook Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, at once, to get to the third position in energy supply to America.

From eight percent some years ago, Nigeria is now credited with supplying about 12 per cent of U.S. oil imports.

The development has heightened expectation that the U.S. will continue to be favourably disposed to issues that affect Nigeria.

Public policy experts in U.S. have always articulated that the country's energy needs will continue to dominate the tone and tenor of America's foreign policy to oil producing nations, including Nigeria. With the prevailing situation in the Middle East, Nigeria's significance in the provision of U.S. energy needs is now clearly on the rise.

Based on March 2006 records and up till recently, Nigeria was still regarded as the fifth largest exporter of crude oil to the U.S., coming behind Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. But on the average this year, Nigeria has been supplying about 1,156,000 barrels per day, coming behind Canada, which average supply during the period is put at 1,825,000 barrels daily and Mexico with 1,475,000 barrels per day.

Last year, Nigeria's average net oil supply to U.S. was put at 2.2 million barrels per day.

Nigeria's rising oil supply occurs at a time of a series of disruption in local production in the Niger Delta region, where at least 20 per cent of the total output has been shut out, especially in Warri, Delta State and Port Harcourt in Rivers State.

America's official records on the monthly energy data for March released on May 30, 2007, and obtained yesterday by The Guardian, showed that for the first time in recent times, Nigeria supplied more crude oil to the U.S. than Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

The figures show that Canada and Mexico were the first and second largest exporters of oil to the U.S. But they had essentially retained that spot, for, while Saudi Arabia would normally have followed suit until March this year, Nigeria has overtaken both countries in energy supply to the country.

According to the Energy Information Administration, an agency of the U.S. government under the Department of Energy, Nigeria exported 1,290,000 oil barrels to the U.S. in March.

Saudi Arabia came in immediately after Nigeria with 1,216,000 barrels per day for the month of May and Venezuela had 1,036,000 barrels per day.

Industry watchers both in Nigeria and the U.S. have been projecting that the U.S. would be looking to Nigeria for more of its oil supplies than from the Middle East, which has remained a global flash point.

Other African countries, according to the records are Angola, which occupied the sixth position with 696,000 barrels per day, Algeria, which came in eighth with 501,000 barrels, Libya took the 14th place with 105,000 and Congo-Brazzaville 79,000 barrels per day occupying the rung of the ladder at 15th.

 Other countries quoted in the records include Iraq, which was seventh with 532,000 barrels per day, Kuwait with 288,000, Brazil 209,000 came 10th, Russian is 11th with 193,000, Ecuador 12th at 191,000 and Colombia 13th with 108,000 barrels per day.

In all, the monthly data analysis for crude oil imports in March 2007 shows that "four countries have each exported more than 1.10 million barrels per day to the United States."

It added that the top five exporting countries accounted for 67 per cent of U.S. crude oil during the month, where crude oil imports to the U.S. averaged 10.348 million barrels per day, which is an increase of 1.299 million barrels from the February data.

Last week, American Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Dr. Jendayi Frazer had alluded to this when she explained why Nigeria remains a strategic country to U.S. security, democracy, trade and energy needs. She said: "Nigeria accounts for 12 per cent of U.S. oil imports and as of March, it passed Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to become the third largest exporter of crude oil to the United States."