Bonny Light Crude Oil (BLCO) is a high grade of Nigerian crude oil produced in the Niger Delta basin and named after the city of Bonny. The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is the official source for BLCO.
Key features of Bonny Light Crude Oil
Low Sulfur Content
BLCO has low sulfur content by world standards, so it is in high demand for its low corrosive effects on refinery infrastructure and the low environmental impact of its byproducts. The sulfur content ranges between 0.14% and 0.16%.
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Good Gasoline Yields
BLCO has good gasoline yields. Gasoline, also known as petrol or motor gasoline, is one of the major petroleum products from processed crude oil.
Gasoline is one of the higher valued light products (along with fuel and diesel), so refiners try to maximize their yield of gasoline, along with diesel, to maximize profit.
High API Gravity
API, which stands for the American Petroleum Institute, is a commonly used index of the density of crude oil or refined products.
Crude oil will typically have API between 15 & 45 degrees. Higher API indicates lighter (lower density) crude, while lower API indicates heavier (more dense) crude.
Generally, lighter (high API) crudes are more valuable because they yield more high-value light products when running through a refinery.
Light crude is typically in the 35-45 API range and BLCO has an API of 32.9.
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Who are the importers of Bonny Light Crude Oil?
- India
- USA
- Spain
- Netherlands
- France
- South Africa
- Togo
- Cote D’Ivoire
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Uruguay
- Canada
What affects the price of Bonny Light Crude Oil?
Several factors affect the price of BLCO, some of them are:
i. OPEC stock
ii. Requirement volume of crude oil
iii. Type of shipment
Nigeria has other grades of crude oil which include Qua Iboe crude oil, Brass River Crude Oil, and Forcados Crude oil.
Brent Crude Oil
Brent Crude Oil is an international “benchmark” for crude oil pricing. It is used to price about two thirds of the world’s international crude oil supplies.
Brent crude is also a light, sweet crude oil well known for its properties. It’s the pricing standard for crude oil in the UK, while the pricing benchmark in the USA is mainly the West Texas Intermediate (WTI).
These oil prices are known as benchmark crude oil, i.e. where a price is quoted for a barrel of oil it will refer to one of these.
Discounts or premiums can be placed on oil of other types depending on their relative desirability. It is easy to benchmark a couple of predictable types rather than have a large price list for many grades of crude that need to be updated as price/demand changes.
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