NNPCL unveils new crude grade, ships 1.9m/b in October

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited during the week said it had launched a new crude oil grade ‘Nembe,’ and had shipped its first cargo in October consisting of two 950,000 barrels.

A report by Reuters quoting the executive director of crude and condensate at NNPC Trading, Maryamu Idris, on the sidelines of the Argus European Crude conference in London, said the first cargoes of the new grade were sold to France and the Netherlands.

Nembe is similar to other distillate-rich grades such as Forcados, Bonga and Egina.

The low-sulphur grade commands a premium to the global Brent benchmark, and is a good grade to compete with Brazilian and Azeri crude grades for European refiners.

Production of Nembe is currently around 50,000 barrels per day, but the NNPCL said it is aiming for a rise to 80,000 barrels per day by the first quarter of next year and 150,000 barrels per day by the start of 2025, the source added.

The development comes on the heels of recovering crude oil production which went from a low of 900, 000 barrels per day last September, to 1.3mb/d last month.

Chairman, AA Holdings, Austin Avuru, at the Pre-Conference workshop of the 41st 2023 conference of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists in Lagos on Monday, had said the Federal Government would need a total of about $21bn investments annually to attain 3 million barrels per day crude oil production.

This was revealed by keynote speaker, and Chairman, AA Holdings, Austin Avuru at the Pre-Conference workshop of the 41st 2023 conference of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists in Lagos on Monday.

Themed ‘Unlocking Nigeria’s Remaining Energy Potential to Fuel Economic Growth and Diversification: Opportunities and Challenges, Avuru opined that the investment would be required to fund oil exploration to achieve 3 million barrels by 2027.