NNPC Limited yesterday said it has launched Nembe, a new oil grade into the global market.
The company said the launch of Nembe will assist in boosting Nigeria’s oil export volume and revenue for the funding of national projects and programmes.
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According to Reuters, “The country has long dealt with output declines, due to crude theft, attacks on pipelines in the Niger Delta and a lack of investment, causing a dwindling of government revenue and large fiscal deficits. But output has picked up in recent months.”
Nembe production was added to the Bonny Light stream more than three years ago, until instances of sabotage on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) hamstrung output, an NNPC source told Reuters on the sidelines of the Argus European Crude conference in London.
The source also said: “Now, the country has managed to resurrect Nembe as a separate grade”, adding that, “the first cargoes of Nembe were sold in October, consisting of two 950,000 barrel shipments sold to France and the Netherlands.
Nembe is similar to Nigeria’s other distillate-rich grades such as Forcados, Bonga and Egina, Maryamu Idris, Executive Director of Crude and Condensate at NNPC Trading told the conference.
The low-sulphur grade commands a premium to the global Brent benchmark, and is a good candidate to compete with Brazilian and Azeri crude grades for European refiners, she added.
Production of Nembe is currently around 50,000 barrels per day, but the NNPC is aiming for a rise to 80,000 by the first quarter of next year and 150,000 barrels per day by the start of 2025, the source added
