Ivory Coast has become Nigeria’s biggest trade partner following the importation of crude oil worth N2.5 trillion in the first half of this year. This is according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
According to the data, Nigeria’s crude oil exports to Ivory Coast has been on a steady increase since 2020. During that period, the crude oil sale increased from N322.44 billion to N2.09 trillion, a rise of about 549.78%.
The increase in Ivory Coast’s patronage of Nigeria’s crude is driven by the former’s refining capacity. At the moment, Ivory Coast is one of the largest crude oil refiners in West Africa through the SIR refinery. The SIR has the capacity to refine up to 80,000 barrels of crude per day. It relies solely on the crude oil from Nigeria while supplying the refined product to Benin Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso and Togo.
In July this year, SIR announced plans to increase production capacity by 25%, on the back of the rapidly growing oil export from Nigeria. In the first half of this year, Nigeria exported N30.03 trillion worth of crude oil with Ivory Coast accounting for 6.97% of that amount.
The increase in crude oil trade between Nigeria and Ivory Coast is coming at a time when there is growing optimism about Dangote Refinery. With a capacity of about 600,000 barrels per day, Dangote is Africa’s largest refinery. Its successful take off could be key to resolving Nigeria’s over dependence on importation of fuel and other refined products.
However, the refinery is facing issues around regulation, allegations of sabotage and alleged boycott by oil marketers. If these issues remain unresolved, they could hamper the successful operations of the facility.
