NNPC-Aiteo Venture Launches New Crude Oil Grade, to Compete in Europe

•Two cargoes of 950,000 barrels each of Nembe crude oil grade exported to France, Netherlands

Peter Uzoho in Lagos

The NNPC-Aiteo OML 29 Joint Venture (JV) took centre stage at the ongoing Argus European Crude Conference in London when it announced the introduction of the Nembe Crude Oil Grade to the market.

The Nembe Crude Oil is produced from OML 29, onshore Nigeria.

A statement yesterday, explained that the Asset is operated by an indigenous operator, Aiteo E&P, which took over operations from Shell after their divestment from the Asset.

The Nembe Crude was previously blended with the popular Bonny Light grade and exported via the Bonny Oil &Gas Terminal.

As a side event to the Argus Conference, a delegation led by both the Aiteo E&P executives and the NNPC Limited leadership highlighted the unique selling point of the Nembe Crude Oil grade with an API of 29, low sulphur content and low carbon footprint due to flare gas elimination, it perfectly fits the required spec of major buyers in Europe.

This announcement also signaled the commencement of activities at Nigeria’s newest crude oil terminal, the Nembe Crude Oil Export Terminal (NCOET), which was licenced in line with the extant laws and Crude Oil Terminal establishment regulations.

“The terminal was conceived as a Floating Storage and Offloading Vessel (FSO) with a storage capacity of two (2) Million Barrels and the ability to offload crude oil to any export tanker from AFRAMAX to Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC).

“The terminal has a loading capacity of 25,000 barrels per hour and will be exporting over 3.6 million barrels of Crude oil monthly at full scale of operation.

“With this development, hydrocarbon production from OML 29, which was hitherto constrained due to evacuation challenges owing to the security issues around the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) corridor, has now been debottlenecked through a collaborative and creative approach that led to the innovation of the Alternative Crude Oil Evacuation Solution,” the statement added.

The achievement highlighted the benefit of the strong collaboration of stakeholders, including NNPC Limited, the Operator, and industry regulators, among others, to overcome challenges.

This, it noted, was clearly a testament to what could be achieved with the right combination of critical thinking and open communication between stakeholders.

“Two cargoes of 950,000 barrels each of the Nembe Crude Oil grade have already been exported to France and the Netherlands. With its attractive Assay of API 29 and low sulphur content, the Nembe Crude Oil grade commands a premium to the global Brent benchmark.

“With the NNPC-AITEO OML 29 JV back onstream, Nigeria now boasts an additional crude oil export of 2 Cargoes of 950,000 barrels each per month and 1.2 Bcf of export gas monthly.

“The completion of a planned subsea pipeline will enable the ramp-up of production of the Nembe Crude from OML 29 to 3.6 million barrels monthly,” it added.

“The crude industry is changing faster than ever before. As markets in Europe become more tied in with global crude oil trade, the Argus European Crude Conference 2023 in London provides a critical opportunity for business leaders to connect, discuss, share and learn from one another.

“The event welcomes energy majors, refiners, NOCs, traders, financial institutions, and other representatives from across the global oil markets,” it further noted.