The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) announced the launch of a new crude oil grade named ‘Nembe’ and successfully shipped its first cargo in October, consisting of two shipments, each with 950,000 barrels. These initial cargoes were sold to France and the Netherlands, according to Maryamu Idris, the executive director of crude and condensate at NNPC Trading, who shared this information during the Argus European Crude conference in London.
Nembe crude is comparable to other distillate-rich grades such as Forcados, Bonga, and Egina. It is a low-sulfur grade that commands a premium over the global Brent benchmark, making it competitive with Brazilian and Azeri crude grades for European refiners.
Currently, Nembe production stands at around 50,000 barrels per day, with plans to increase it to 80,000 barrels per day by the first quarter of the next year and further to 150,000 barrels per day by the beginning of 2025.
This development follows the recovery of crude oil production, which has risen from a low of 900,000 barrels per day in September to 1.3 million barrels per day last month.
Chairman of AA Holdings, Austin Avuru, emphasized the need for substantial investments during a workshop at the 41st 2023 conference of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists in Lagos. He noted that the Federal Government would require an annual investment of approximately $21 billion to achieve a crude oil production target of 3 million barrels per day by 2027.
