The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has introduced the Utapate crude oil blend, a new crude oil grade, into the international market.

According to a statement on Monday by Femi Soneye, NNPC’s spokesperson, the Utapate crude oil blend commenced operations in July, as its first cargo headed for Spain.

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The crude oil grade, Soneye said, is from an oil mining lease (OML) 13, fully operated by NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL), the company’s upstream subsidiary.

“Spanish oil giant Repsol, won the tender for the initial cargo of 950,000 barrels of the new crude blend which is comparable to the much sought after Amenam crude.”

According to the statement, Gulf Transport and Trading, another leading crude oil dealer, have also secured the cargo’s tenders for August and September.

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“During the Argus European Crude Conference in London last year, NNPC Ltd announced the launch of Nembe crude oil, produced by the NNPC/Aiteo operated Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 Joint Venture (JV),” the NNPC spokesperson said.

“Similar to the Nembe crude oil grade, the Utapate crude oil blend has a low sulphur content and low carbon footprint due to flare gas elimination, fitting perfectly into the required spec of major buyers in Europe.”

Soneye said the remarkable achievement signifies the commitment of NNPC to increase Nigeria’s crude oil production and grow reserves through the development of new assets.