The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and Aiteo have launched a Nembe crude oil grade.
The announcement was made via a statement signed by Olufemi Soneye, the NNPCL Chief Corporate Communications Officer on Wednesday, November 8.
According to the statement, Nembe crude oil grade was introduced into the international crude market on Tuesday, November 7. A part of the NNPCL statement read thus:
- “The announcement of the Nembe Crude Oil Blend, produced by Aiteo, the Operator of the NNPC/Aiteo Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 Joint Venture (JV), was made at the ongoing Argus European Crude Conference in London, on Tuesday. OML 29, an asset located onshore Nigeria, is operated by Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Limited, Africa’s leading indigenous hydrocarbon producer, following a historic acquisition from Shell in 2014.
- “The Nembe Crude was previously blended with the popular Bonny Light grade and exported via the Bonny Oil & Gas Terminal. The unique selling point of the Nembe Crude Oil grade with an API gravity was highlighted by both the Aiteo E & P and NNPC Limited Leadership at the Argus Conference in London.
- “The Nembe Crude Oil grade also 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. Two cargoes of 950,000 barrels each of the Nembe Crude Oil grade have since been exported to France and the Netherlands.
- “With its attractive Assay of API 29 and low sulfur content, the Nembe Crude Oil grade commands a premium to the global Brent benchmark. With the NNPC-Aiteo OML 29 JV back onstream.”
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The NNPCL statement also highlights the fact that Nigeria has achieved a significant milestone with the launch of the Nembe Crude Oil Export Terminal (NCOET), introducing a new venture for the country’s crude oil export.
This operational facility consists of a Floating Storage and Offloading Vessel (FSO) with a substantial storage capacity of two million barrels.
It marks the country’s increased export capability, allowing the loading of two cargoes at 950,000 barrels each and an additional 1.2 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of export gas every month.
The NCOET operates under regulatory compliance, following established laws and regulations governing the establishment of crude oil terminals.
The terminal’s operational design, with its ability to transfer crude oil to a range of export tankers, from AFRAMAX to Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC), offers loading capacities of 25,000 barrels per hour.
Upon reaching full operational capacity, the NCOET is expected to export over 3.6 million barrels of crude oil monthly.
This operational advancement comes after the successful debottlenecking of hydrocarbon production from OML 29, resolving previous constraints due to evacuation challenges, particularly around the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) corridor.
These issues have been addressed through innovative problem-solving methods, leading to the establishment of the Alternative Crude Oil Evacuation Solution.
This solution allows for smoother evacuation, unlocking the potential of OML 29’s production that was previously impeded by security issues.
