By Ken Afor
The Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd, Tuesday, announced the introduction of a new type of crude called Nembe.
This comes as Nigeria attempts to increase their crude oil production, making them the largest oil producer in Africa.
For a prolonged period, output levels in the country have experienced downturns as a result of crude theft, strikes on pipelines in the Niger Delta region and inadequate investments, contributing to the reduction of government revenue and significant budgetary deficits.
Nonetheless, output has become more productive and vigorous recently.
More than three years ago, Nembe production was incorporated into the Bonny Light stream until sabotage on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) limitations output, as per a NNPC source noticed by Reuters at the Argus European Crude conference in London.
He stated that Nembe has now been successfully reestablished as an individual grade level.
In October, two cargoes of Nembe crude with a total capacity of 950,000 barrels were sold to France and the Netherlands, according to a second source from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPCL) who spoke to Reuters.
Gulf Transport & Trading, a UAE-based trading firm, purchased the first Nembe cargo and loaded it onto the Suezmax tanker Maran Orpheus for sailing to an undisclosed end buyer in Fos, France, as stated by a source who was in the know about the incident, according to the outlet.
Maryamu Idris, Executive Director of Crude and Condensate at NNPC Trading, informed the conference that Nembe is comparable to other distillate-rich grades such as Forcados, Bonga and Egina in Nigeria.
She said the low-sulphur grade commands a premium to the world Brent benchmark, making it a viable contender for European refiners in comparison to Brazilian and Azeri crude grades.
The NNPC aims to boost Nembe’s production to 80,000 barrels per day in the first quarter of 2024 and then to 150,000 barrels per day by 2025, according to a source. Currently, this is estimated at 50,000 barrels daily.
According to OPEC figures, Nigeria’s production of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in October was up from 1.39 million bpd in September, per a survey by Reuters.
Additionally, a third source from the NNPCL stated that the country hopes to raise output to approximately 1.8 million bpd by 2023’s end.
Sources reported to Reuters last week that NNPC is planning to furnish the much-awaited Dangote oil refinery with as many as six ship cargoes of crude oil during December, aimed to be used for trial operations.
Nigeria, with its inadequate capacity and poor maintenance of refining facilities, is heavily dependent on imports to meet its fuel needs. The nation is now turning to Aliko Dangote, the wealthiest individual in Africa, and his new refinery, set to produce up to 650,000 barrels per day, in hopes of eventually resisting the urge to import fuel.
It is anticipated that the refinery will be operational using types of crude oil with an American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity between 29 and 34, according to the first source from the NNPCL.
Nembe has an API gravity of 29, which is in the range of 15 and 45 degrees and denotes a lower density crude. The API gravity is an index used to measure the density of crude oil.
