The United States Is In The Advance Stage Of Totalling Squeezing Nigeria’s Oil Of Its market

The United States (US) is in the advance stage of a five-year plan to totally squeeze Nigeria’s oil out of its market, the International Energy Agency (EIA) has hinted. The US energy agency said in a report at the weekend that America was planning to flood the world crude market with 1.3 million barrels per day, in a move that may see it compete with established oil producers such as Nigeria. It added that a 2019 target had already been set to begin the crude exports.

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crude exporter, depends largely on proceeds from crude to service over 85 per cent of its budget. The US, which hitherto was importing over 1 million barrels of oil per day from Nigeria until 2013, has already crashed its imports from the country by about 800, 000 barrels per day. With the drastic drop in crude oil import by the US, India and other Asian nations have become the biggest consumers of crude from Nigeria.

The IEA said in the report that the US was planning to end crude importation based on its gradual self-sustainability in energy needs through the Shale oil boom. The US is targeting 2019 for the commencement of 1.3 million barrels per day crude export, the IEA said.

A crude trader however, told New Telegraph that the 1.3 million per barrels crude exports from the US by 2019 is a big threat to Nigeria’s Asian market. “This is because the US will need buyers for its crude and this is likely to make the country look the way of Asia for business. This is a major threat to Nigeria’s economy if nothing is done urgently about this,” he said.

The new measure to end crude imports is also affecting countries such as Saudi Arabia, Angola and other crude suppliers to Washington. “The IEA North America’s shale oil boom has started to squeeze Saudi Arabian oil out of the US market in the same way it did with West African crude,” the energy agency said. It also predicted a flood of US gasoline exports to world market.

“In recent years, surging light tight oil production has backed out US imports of West African crude, which are now moving to Asia,” the IEA said in a monthly report. “Saudi exports seem to be showing the beginning of a similar shift,” it said, estimating that Saudi exports could run below 7 million barrels per day for the last four months, the lowest level since September 2011. “Exports to the US led the drop amid rising Saudi domestic demand for crude burn and refinery runs,” the IEA said. Saudi Arabia was pricing oil out of the US markets by keeping official selling prices high while adjusting them down for Asia, it added.

The North American supply boom has not only cut crude imports into the United States but also turned it into a net products exporter – in sharp contrast with previous decades when it was the largest importer in the world.

“In coming years… U.S. light distillate exports will reach increasingly far-flung markets,” said the IEA, which estimates that Canada and the United States could have a surplus of naphtha and gasoline of around 1.3 million barrels per day by 2019. Planned expansion at Valero and Marathon refineries to process more of the light tight oil extracted from US fields will add to the glut, the IEA said.