Nigeria’s gas export earnings rose to $2.53 billion in the first quarter of 2026, highlighting the growing contribution of the natural gas sector to the country’s foreign exchange earnings and external trade performance.
This was disclosed in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Balance of Payments Highlights for the first quarter of 2026, which showed that gas export receipts increased from $2.24 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The increase reflects Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to expand gas production and export capacity as part of a broader strategy to diversify foreign exchange earnings beyond crude oil.
According to the report, gas export earnings maintained an upward trajectory during the review period, recording a 12.95 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase.
“Gas exports increased slightly to US$2.53 billion in Q1 2026, from US$2.24 billion recorded in Q4 2025,” the Central Bank stated.
The apex bank noted that the growth in gas exports contributed positively to merchandise trade and strengthened the country’s overall external sector performance.
The increase in gas export earnings coincided with a significant improvement in Nigeria’s goods account balance, which posted a surplus of $5.95 billion in the first quarter of 2026.
The figure represents a substantial rise from the $1.77 billion surplus recorded in the previous quarter and exceeds the $3.35 billion surplus reported in the corresponding period of 2025.
According to the CBN, the stronger performance was driven by improved export earnings, with gas exports providing additional support to Nigeria’s external balances.
The development underscores the increasing importance of natural gas as a major source of foreign exchange revenue alongside crude oil exports.
Nigeria possesses one of the largest natural gas reserves in Africa and has continued to position the sector as a strategic component of its energy transition agenda and export diversification programme.
Industry analysts believe the sustained growth in gas exports reflects ongoing investments in gas infrastructure, policy reforms and efforts to expand both domestic production and international market access.
The stronger performance of the gas sector also contributed to an improvement in Nigeria’s broader external sector indicators during the first quarter of the year.
According to the CBN report, the country’s current account surplus increased by 255.71 per cent to $4.98 billion in Q1 2026, compared to $1.40 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The goods account remained the primary driver of the current account surplus, supported by rising export earnings and lower import costs.
The Federal Government has continued to promote natural gas development through its Decade of Gas initiative, aimed at accelerating investments across the gas value chain and expanding export infrastructure.
In a related development, recent reports showed that Nigeria’s petrol import bill declined sharply to N87.40 billion in the first quarter of 2026, down from N2.27 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
The reduction means the country spent approximately N2.18 trillion less on petrol imports compared to the same period last year and N3.45 trillion less than in the preceding quarter.
Analysts say the combination of rising gas export earnings and lower fuel import costs is strengthening Nigeria’s external position and supporting efforts to improve foreign exchange stability and economic resilience.
