The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC Ltd has announced the introduction of the Utapate crude oil blend, a new crude oil grade into the international crude oil market.
A statement by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye on Monday noted that the new oil grade is from the Oil Mining Lease, OML 13, fully operated by NEPL, NNPC Ltd’s upstream subsidiary.
The Utapate crude oil blend commenced operations in July 2024, as its first cargo headed for Spain.
Located offshore Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria, Utapate’s current crude oil production is at 28,000 barrels per day, with the potential to increase it to 50,000 barrels per day. Also, the sulphur content of the new crude is 0.0655%.
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.
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Gulf Transport and Trading, another leading crude oil dealer, have also secured the cargo tenders for August and September 2024, according to the statement.
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 29 Joint Venture.
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.
‘This remarkable 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 statement added.
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