The NNPC Ltd has announced the introduction of Utapate crude oil blend, a new crude oil grade into the international crude oil market.
Located offshore Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, Utapate’s current crude oil production is at 28,000 barrels per day, with potentials to increase it to 50,000 barrels per day. Also, the sulphur content of the new crude is 0.0655 per cent
Similar to the Nembe crude oil grade, the Utapate crude oil blend has a low sulphur content and low carbon footprint due to flare gas elimination, fitting perfectly into the required spec of major buyers in Europe.
The crude oil grade From Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13, fully operated by NEPL, NNPC Ltd’s upstream subsidiary, commenced operations in July 2024, as its first cargo headed for Spain.
Spanish oil giant Repsol, won the tender for the initial cargo of 950,000 barrels of the new crude blend which is comparable to the much sought after Amenam crude. Gulf Transport and Trading, another leading crude oil dealer, have also secured the cargoes’ tenders for August and September 2024.
During the Argus European Crude Conference in London last year, NNPC Ltd announced the launch of Nembe crude oil, produced by the NNPC/Aiteo operated Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 Joint Venture (JV).
This achievement signals the commitment of the NNPC Ltd to increase Nigeria’s crude oil production and grow reserves through the development of new assets.
The addition of the new crude oil grade in addition to others at the market comes at a time the country is making efforts to grow its oil production to two million barrels per day in a bid to shore up revenue.
The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, had recently disclosed that the country’s average daily production stood at 1.61 million barrels per day as of July 23.
Komolafe revealed that at the House of Representatives Special Committee’s two-day public/investigative hearing on oil theft/losses.
“As of July 23, 2024, Nigeria’s average daily production stands at 1.61mbpd,” he disclosed.
This is coming barely two weeks after the commission announced that the average daily oil production for June was 1.25mbpd.
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