The paper examined crude oil and economic growth in Nigeria from 1980-2019. The objectives of the study were to; examine the impact of crude oil revenue on economic growth in Nigeria; and determine the impact of crude oil exports on economic growth in Nigeria. The paper utilized annual secondary data collected from Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin and utilized the unit root test and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The ADF unit root test result showed that crude oil exports is stationary at order zero, while both GDP and crude oil revenue were stationary at order one. The ARDL model result showed that; there is positive long-run and short run relationship between crude oil revenue and gross domestic product. But a negative relationship exists between crude oil exports and economic growth in Nigeria during the period of study. The implication of the finding is that, despite the huge revenue from crude oil exports, the growth of the Nigerian economy has not translated to economic development due to misappropriation of public funds and poor administration. Based on the findings, it was recommended that, there should be proper coordination of fiscal policy in the form of government revenue for sustainability of real gross domestic product. Also, there should be appropriate regulatory and pricing reforms in the oil sector to integrate it into the economy and reverse the negative impact of oil exports on the Nigerian economy.