Nigeria’s crude petroleum sector grows 16.4%, exits contraction despite lower production

Nigeria’s crude petroleum sector grows 16.4%, exits contraction despite lower production

Nigeria’s crude petroleum sector grew by 16.37% year-on-year in nominal terms in the first quarter of 2026, marking a return to expansion despite lower oil production during the period, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The latest GDP report showed that the crude petroleum and natural gas segment rebounded from a 10.50% contraction recorded in the corresponding period of 2025 and a steeper 31.59% decline in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The recovery helped lift the broader mining and quarrying sector to a 13.92% nominal growth rate, reversing a 5.33% contraction recorded a year earlier.

The rebound comes even as Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production fell to 1.55 million barrels per day (mbpd) in Q1 2026, compared to 1.62mbpd in the corresponding quarter of 2025 and 1.58mbpd in the preceding quarter.

Despite lower production volumes, the crude petroleum and natural gas industry generated N4.27 trillion in nominal output during the quarter, up from N3.67 trillion in Q1 2025, representing an increase of about N601.15 billion year-on-year.

However, growth was uneven across the extractive industries. Coal mining contracted by 15.00% in nominal terms during the quarter, while metal ores shrank by 6.24%. This contrasts with the strong expansion recorded by both segments in much of 2025. The performance of crude petroleum, therefore, remained the primary driver of growth within the sector.

In real terms, crude petroleum and natural gas expanded by 2.57% year-on-year in Q1 2026, up from 1.87% in the corresponding quarter of 2025.

However, growth slowed considerably from 6.79% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025, suggesting that the pace of expansion weakened despite remaining in positive territory.

Similarly, the broader mining and quarrying sector posted real growth of 1.89%, lower than the 2.97% growth recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025 and significantly below the 8.90% achieved in the fourth quarter of last year. Its contribution to real GDP stood at 4.14%, compared to 4.22% a year earlier.

While crude petroleum returned to growth, its contribution to Nigeria’s economy remained modest relative to the size of the non-oil sector.

The crude petroleum and natural gas segment accounted for 3.86% of nominal GDP in Q1 2026, marginally lower than the 3.90% recorded in the corresponding period of 2025. On a real basis, its contribution stood at 3.92%.

Nairametrics earlier reported that Nigeria’s oil sector contributed 3.92% to the country’s total real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting a slight decline from the corresponding period of 2025 despite improved growth in the sector.