The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has unveiled a new crude oil grade Utapate to the international market.
According to Olufemi Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer at NNPC Ltd, the first shipment of 950,000 barrels of Utapate crude oil was dispatched to Spain in July from Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13, which is operated by NNPC Exploration and Production Limited.
Current production of the Utapate blend stands at 28,000 barrels per day, with a potential to reach 50,000 barrels per day. The sulphur content of this new crude is reported to be 0.0655 percent.
Soneye noted that Repsol, the Spanish oil company, won the tender for the inaugural cargo of 950,000 barrels. This new crude blend is said to be comparable to the highly sought-after Amenam crude.
Gulf Transport and Trading, another prominent crude oil trader, has secured tenders for Utapate cargoes for August and September 2024.
In addition, Soneye highlighted that during the Argus European Crude Conference in London last year, NNPC Ltd announced the launch of Nembe crude oil, produced from the NNPC/Aiteo-operated Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 Joint Venture (JV).
Similar to the Nembe crude, the Utapate blend features low sulphur content and a reduced carbon footprint due to flare gas elimination, making it suitable for the European market.
This move underscores NNPC Ltd’s commitment to boosting Nigeria’s crude oil production and expanding reserves through the development of new assets.
