Nigeria unveils Utapate, new low-sulfur crude grade

Nigeria has added another low-sulphur crude grade called Utapate as the country struggles to ramp up daily oil production.

The Utapate terminal was recently launched in the Niger Delta region, according to data from Bloomberg.

The report stated that the new terminal produced almost 19,000 barrels per day in June, with a production to reach 50,000 by the end of 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 people familiar with the matter.

The light and low-sulphur oil is among the numerous crude grades produced in Nigeria.

According to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, the Suezmax Front Seoul loaded Utapate on July 24.

The vessel is now headed to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. The Utapate grade is set to be processed in both Europe and Asia.

The first shipment of Utapate is destined for the Spanish refiner Repsol SA.

As of June, Nigeria’s daily production stood at 1.25 million barrels per day, according to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.

Recently, the NUPRC Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe, disclosed that daily oil production has risen to 1.6mbpd in July.

This claim has yet to be confirmed as the data for July has yet to be released.

Similarly, the NNPC has also said it would do everything possible to achieve 2mbpd.

Experts said this is the only way the NNPC could conveniently sell 450,000bpd to Dangote and other local refineries as directed by President Bola Tinubu.