The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has launched the Utapate crude oil blend, a new grade of crude oil, into the international market. According to a statement released on Monday by NNPC spokesperson Femi Soneye, the first cargo of this new blend departed for Spain in July.

The Utapate crude oil blend is sourced from Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13, which is fully operated by NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL), the upstream subsidiary of NNPC. Located offshore Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, the Utapate blend currently produces 28,000 barrels per day, with potential to increase to 50,000 barrels per day. The new crude grade has a sulphur content of 0.0655%.

Spanish oil company Repsol won the tender for the initial cargo of 950,000 barrels of the Utapate blend, which is comparable to the highly sought-after Amenam crude. Additionally, Gulf Transport and Trading, another leading crude oil dealer, has secured tenders for the Utapate cargoes for August and September.

Last year, during the Argus European Crude Conference in London, NNPC Ltd announced the launch of the Nembe crude oil, produced by the NNPC/Aiteo operated Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 Joint Venture. Similar to the Nembe grade, the Utapate crude oil blend features low sulphur content and a low carbon footprint due to flare gas elimination, aligning with the specifications of major European buyers.

Soneye highlighted that this development demonstrates NNPC's commitment to increasing Nigeria’s crude oil production and expanding reserves through the development of new assets.