Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Managing Director, NNPC E&P Limited, NEPL, Mr. Nicholas Foucart, has revealed that the company has exported five cargoes of its Utapate crude oil blend since the first cargo hit the global market in July this year.
Foucart disclosed this as he unveiled the new oil grade at the Argus European Crude Conference in London, United Kingdom on Wednesday, saying the Utapate crude exported so far went largely to Spain and the East Coast of the United States.
Describing the introduction of the Utapate crude oil blend into the market as a significant milestone for Nigeria’s crude oil export to the global energy market, he stated that besides the five cargoes exported earlier, two more cargoes have been secured for November and December this year.
“Since we started producing the Utapate Field in May 2024, we have rapidly ramped up production to 40,000 barrels per day with minimum downtime.
“So far, we have exported five cargoes, largely to Spain and the East Coast of the United States; while two more additional cargoes have been secured for November and December 2024, representing a significant boost to Nigeria’s crude oil export to the global market,” he said.
Recalled that, in a major boost for Nigeria’s crude oil production, revenue generation and economic growth efforts, NNPC Ltd and its partner, Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company, SEEPCO Ltd, in July 2024, introduced the Utapate crude oil blend, following the lifting of the first cargo of 950,000 barrels, which headed for Spain.
Produced from the Utapate field in Oil Mining Lease, OML, 13 in Akwa Ibom State, Southern Nigeria, the Utapate crude oil blend is similar to the Nembe crude oil grade, with low sulphur content of 0.0655% and low carbon footprint due to flare gas elimination, fitting perfectly into the required specification of major buyers in Europe.
Foucart disclosed that since its introduction into the global market, the Utapate crude oil blend has enjoyed a positive response from the market due to its highly attractive qualities.
The NEPL boss said OML13, fully operated by NNPC Limited and Natural Oilfield Services Ltd, NOSL – a subsidiary of SEEPCO Ltd -, boasts a huge reserve of 330 million barrels of crude oil, 45 million barrels of condensate and 3.5 trillion cubic feet of gas.
“We have a number of ongoing projects to increase our production from the current 40,000bopd to 50,000bopd by January 2025 and 60,000bopd to 65,000bopd by June 2025. Essentially, we are targeting opportunities to increase production to 80,000bopd by the end of 2025,” Foucart added.
He said the Utapate crude oil terminal is sustainable, affordable, and fully compliant with the rigorous environmental regulations and sustainability principles especially those aimed at reducing carbon emissions and other ecological effects.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of NNPC Trading Ltd, Mr. Lawal Sade, said the pricing structure of the Utapate crude oil blend was similar to that of Amenam crude as it is a light sweet crude which is highly sought after by refiners across the world due to its low sulphur content, efficient yield of high-value products, API gravity and other similarities.
Sade explained that in bringing the new crude oil blend to the global market, NNPC Ltd. wanted to optimise value for both its producers and counterparties across the globe.
He added that to ensure predictability and sustainability of supply, NTL intends to run a term contract on the Utapate crude oil blend cargoes, principally targeting off-takers from the European and the US East Coast refineries.
The NNPC E&P Ltd. and NOSL partnership is also committed to operating in a manner that is safe, environmentally responsible, and beneficial to the local communities.
The Utapate field development plan, executed between 2013-2019 and approved in October, included converting wells and facilities from swamp/marine to land-based operations.
The plan involved a multi-rig drilling campaign for 40 wells and the development of significant infrastructure such as production facilities, storage tank, a subsea pipeline, and an offshore loading platform to facilitate crude oil evacuation and loading.
The entry of the Utapate crude oil blend into the market is coming barely a year after the NNPC Ltd. announced the launch of Nembe crude oil, produced by the NNPC/Aiteo operated Oil Mining Lease OML29 Joint Venture.
