… targeting 50,000 bpd by January 2025, 60,000-65,000 bpd by June 2025, 80,000 bpd by end of 2025
… crude blend hits global market with five cargoes to Spain, US East Coast refineries, two more secured for November, December 2024
Oredola Adeola
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and its partner, Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company (SEEPCO) Ltd, have successfully ramped up production of their new Utapate crude oil blend from 28,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July to 40,000 bpd, with plans to increase output to 50,000 bpd by January 2025, 60,000 to 65,000 bpd by June 2025, and ultimately target 80,000 bpd by the end of 2025.
Mr. Nicholas Foucart, Managing Director, NNPC E & P Limited (NEPL), mentioned this during a ceremony held at the Argus European Crude Conference taking place in London, United Kingdom, on Wednesday.
Foucart described 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.
In July 2024, NNPC Ltd and its partner, SEEPCO Ltd, introduced the Utapate crude oil blend and began ramping up production from Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13, in Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria, following the successful lifting of their first cargo of 950,000 barrels, which was shipped to Spain.
The MD NNPC E & P Limited (NEPL) said, “Since we started producing the Utapate Field in May 2024, we have rapidly ramped up production to 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) 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,” Foucart told a packed audience of European crude oil marketers.
He added that since its introduction into the global market, the Utapate crude oil blend has enjoyed a positive response from the international crude oil market, due to its highly attractive qualities.
Foucart said the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13, fully operated by NEPL and Natural Oilfield Services Ltd (NOSL), a subsidiary of SEEPCO Ltd, boasts a huge reserve of 330million barrels of crude oil reserves, 45 million barrels of condensate and 3.5 tcf 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.
Mr. Lawal Sade, Managing Director of NNPC Trading Ltd (NTL), in his part, said the pricing structure of the Utapate crude oil blend is 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.
He said 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 to ensure predictability and sustainability of supply, the NNPC Trading 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.
According to Olufemi Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer NNPC Ltd., the Utapate crude oil blend is similar to the Nembe crude oil grade.
He stated that the crude oil blend has a 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.
Soneye said, “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,” he said.
The Chief Corporate Communications Officer NNPC Ltd further emphasised that 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 (OML) 29 Joint Venture (JV).
