By John Ikani
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Aiteo Joint Venture have unveiled a new addition to the international crude oil market, the Nembe crude oil grade.
The introduction of this new grade was announced during the ongoing Argus European crude conference in London.
According to Olufemi Soneye, the chief corporate communications officer of NNPCL, two cargoes, each containing 950,000 barrels of the Nembe crude oil grade have been exported to France and the Netherlands.
“The Nembe crude oil blend, produced by Aiteo, the operator of the NNPC/Aiteo Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 Joint Venture (JV), used to be combined with the well-known Bonny Light grade and exported through the Bonny oil & gas terminal,” said Soneye.
“This unique crude oil grade is characterized by its API gravity, low sulfur content, and reduced carbon footprint due to the elimination of flare gas, making it an ideal choice for European buyers.”
Soneye, went on to note that With the resumption of operations at the NNPC-Aiteo OML 29 JV, Nigeria is now able to export an additional 1.9 million barrels of crude oil and 1.2 billion cubic feet of gas each month.
This achievement marks the commencement of activities at the Nembe Crude Oil Export Terminal (NCOET), which is fully compliant with the relevant laws and regulations for establishing crude oil terminals.
The NCOET, initially envisioned as a Floating Storage and Offloading Vessel (FSO), has a storage capacity of 2 million barrels and can offload crude oil to a range of export tankers, from AFRAMAX to Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC). It boasts a loading capacity of 25,000 barrels per hour and is set to export over 3.6 million barrels of crude oil monthly at full operational capacity.
Previously, hydrocarbon production from OML 29 faced constraints due to evacuation challenges caused by security issues along the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) corridor. However, a collaborative and innovative approach has led to the development of an alternative crude oil evacuation solution, overcoming these challenges.
The Argus European Crude Conference 2023 in London serves as a meeting ground for energy majors, refiners, NOCs, traders, financial institutions, and other representatives from the global oil markets. This event presents a valuable opportunity for industry leaders to connect, exchange insights, and learn from each other.
