New Production of Low-sulphur Crude Rises 996,070 barrels, Says FG

The Federal Government has revealed that daily average production of Utapate, Nigeria’s new low-sulphur crude oil grade, has risen to 32,000 barrels per day.

It disclosed this in a report obtained on Wednesday from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, which stated that a total of 996,070 barrels of Utapate was produced in August, up from the 754,222 barrels produced in July.

It was gathered that 567,302 barrels of the low-sulphur crude were produced in June while 309,434 barrels were pumped out in May when the crude was first produced.

In a statement in August, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited disclosed that it had commenced the sales of the new crude oil blend to the international market.

The Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, said the product was extracted from its Oil Mining Lease 13, a facility fully operated by NNPC Exploration and Production Limited.

“Utapate’s current crude oil production is at 28,000 barrels per day, with the potential to increase it to 50,000 barrels per day. Also, the sulphur content of the new crude is 0.0655 per cent,” Soneye said.

He added, “Spanish oil giant Repsol won the tender for the initial cargo of 950,000 barrels of the new crude blend which is comparable to the much sought-after Amenam crude. Gulf Transport and Trading, another leading crude oil dealer, has also secured the cargoes’ tenders for August and September 2024.”

Utapate, a subsidiary of state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, and venture partner, Natural Oilfield Services Limited, loaded the first export cargo last month, according to reports.

Meanwhile, the NUPRC report shows that the Ajapa field did not record any production last month. The field produced 18,783 barrels in July and 24,000 barrels in June.

Similarly, Ima, Anambra Basin, Ukpokiti and Asaramatoru fields have not produced a single barrel this year, according to the report.

Nigeria’s crude oil production increased from 1.307 million barrels per day in July to 1.352mbpd in August, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its September Monthly Oil Market Report.

OPEC said the average daily crude production rose marginally to add 45,000 barrels, based on information obtained through direct communication with the Nigerian government.

The report was contrary to claims by the Federal Government that the daily crude production was nearing 1.6mbpd.