Foreign company wins tender as Nigeria releases new crude oil grade

• The call for bids for the initial delivery of 950,000 barrels of Nigeria's new Utapate low-sulfur crude oil blend was won by Repsol
• The cargo tenders for August and September were received by Gulf Transport and Trading, another prominent crude oil dealer
• Nigeria produced 1.25 million barrels per day as of June, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the NUPRC

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over 3-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

The tender for the first shipment of 950,000 barrels of Nigeria's new low-sulfur crude oil blend, known as Utapate, was won by the Spanish oil firm Repsol.

On the international market, NNPC has introduced a new crude oil grade known as Utapate crude oil blend. Photo Credit: NNPC
Source: Getty Images

Additionally, another top crude oil trader, Gulf Transport and Trading, obtained the cargo tenders for August and September of 2024.

This was revealed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on Monday in a statement that was signed by Olufemi Soneye, the company's spokesperson, according to The Punch.

Soneye added that NNPC had released a new crude oil grade called Utapate crude oil blend on the global market.

“From Oil Mining Lease 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,” Soneye said.

According to him, Utapate, which is offshore Akwa Ibom State, can currently produce 28,000 barrels of crude oil per day with the potential to produce 50,000 barrels per day. The new petroleum has a sulphur concentration of 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.“Gulf Transport and Trading, another leading crude oil dealer, has also secured the cargoes’ tenders for August and September 2024,” Soneye announced.

NNPC announces new crude oil

Furthermore, he mentioned that NNPC had announced the introduction of Nembe crude oil produced by the OML 29 Joint Venture, which is controlled by NNPC and Aiteo, at the Argus European Crude Conference in London last year.

“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 NNPC Ltd to increase Nigeria’s crude oil production and grow reserves through the development of new assets,” Soneye stated.

As previously reported by The PUNCH, on July 24, Utapate was placed into the Suezmax Front Seoul. The ship was sailing for the Canary Islands' Las Palmas. The Spanish refiner Repsol SA is the intended recipient of the first cargo of Utapate.

According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Nigeria's daily production as of June was 1.25 million barrels.

President Bola Tinubu said on Sunday that Nigeria produced 1.6 million barrels of oil per day in July. Since the July data has not yet been made public, this allegation cannot yet be verified.

In a similar vein, the NNPC had pledged to exert every effort to reach two mbpd. According to experts, this is the only practical option for NNPC to fulfill Tinubu's directive to sell 450,000 bpd to Dangote and other nearby refineries.

The President gave NNPC instructions last week to sell crude oil to other domestic refineries including the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in naira.

Dangote refinery confirms date to release petrol

Legit.ng reported that Dangote Industries Limited has reiterated that production of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, will commence at the Dangote refinery in July 2024.

Devakumar Edwin, vice president of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, stated this during a visit by the S&P Global team to the Dangote Refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Dangote refinery set July 10–15, 2024, as the dates for supplying petrol products to the Nigerian market.

Source: Legit.ng