- of Nigeria's 2025 crude export earnings (CBN)1
- 7.51%
Trade flows
The Central Bank of Nigeria attributes 7.51% of 2025 crude export earnings, about US$2.37 billion, to Italy.1 Nigeria's statistics bureau recorded ₦1.11 trillion of crude exports to Italy in the first quarter of 2025.2
Historical buyers
In NNPC's 2015–16 term-contract cycle, the Sardinian refiner Saras held a 60,000 barrels-per-day contract in the refiner category and Eni's trading arm held 32,000 barrels per day as an affiliate of a producing company.3 These are historical facts, not evidence of current purchasing; we have found no cargo-level reporting of recent Italian purchases.
Eni's changed position
Eni was for decades a producer of Brass River crude through Nigerian Agip Oil Company. It sold that company to Oando in a transaction completed on 22 August 2024,4 while retaining offshore interests. Eni therefore has fewer onshore equity barrels of its own than historical accounts suggest.
Documented buyers at a glance
| Company | Type | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Saras (Sarroch refinery) | Refiner | NNPC term contract, 2015–16 cycle (historical)3 |
| Eni Trading & Shipping | Producer affiliate | NNPC term contract, 2015–16 cycle (historical)3 |
Nigerian export statistics record the declared destination and are published by value; importer statistics record arrivals by volume. The two rarely match exactly. See the notes on the markets overview.
The qualities of the grades named on this page are in the Nigerian crude grade database. How such cargoes are actually contracted — by tender, under term contracts or through an established trader — is explained in how Nigerian crude oil is sold, and what a buyer should prepare before approaching any seller is in the international buyer centre.