- The Federal Government achieved a 319 per cent increase in Utapate crude oil production in nine months
- A monthly analysis showed a steady increase in production since May 2024
- The Utapate crude oil grade is produced from the field in OML 13 in Akwa Ibom State
The Federal Government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), achieved a 319.88 per cent increase in the production of Nigeria’s newly introduced low-sulphur crude oil grade, Utapate.
The production reached 1.29 million barrels per month as of January 2025 from 309,434 barrels produced when it was newly launched in May 2024.
The increase in the oil output within nine months was contained in the latest crude output document posted on the website of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The 1.29 million barrels per month represents a 41,910 barrels daily production rate.
However, the production rate is below the 50,000 barrels per day target set by the NNPCL.
Analysis of monthly increase in production
The monthly production report from the NUPRC showed that the crude grade maintained a steady increase throughout 2024, till January 2025.
The oil production increased from 309,434 in May 2024 to 567,302 in June and further increased to 754,222 in July.
In August 2024, crude production increased to 996,070 and reached 1.15 million in September, reduced to 1.13 million in October 2024.
The crude production increased to 1.16 million in November, reached 1.22 million in December, and 1.299 million in January 2025.
The report also showed that five oil fields, including Ima, Ajape, Anambra Basin, Ukpokiti, and Asaramatoru fields, did not produce crude or condensate.
About Utapate crude blend
The Utapate crude oil blend is produced from the field in OML 13 in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, and is similar to the Nembe crude oil grade.
It has a low sulphur content of 0.0655 per cent and a low carbon footprint due to flare gas elimination, which makes it a fit for the required specification of major buyers in Europe.
The Utapate field development plan included converting wells and facilities from swamp/marine to land-based operations and was executed between 2013 and 2019 and approved in October.
The plan involved a multi-rig drilling campaign for 40 wells and the development of significant infrastructure such as production facilities, storage tanks, a subsea pipeline, and an offshore loading platform to facilitate crude oil evacuation and loading.
The introduction of the Utapate crude oil blend into the market comes a year after the NNPC Ltd announced the launch of Nembe crude oil, produced by the NNPC/Aiteo operated Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 Joint Venture (JV).
NNPCL unveils Utapate crude grade to global market, eyes 80,000 bpd by 2025
Meanwhile, TheRadar reported that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) officially unveiled Utapate crude oil blend to the global crude oil market as part of efforts to boost Nigeria’s crude oil production, revenue generation, and economic growth.
According to the statement by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd., Olufemi Soneye, the Utapate crude oil grade was unveiled during a ceremony held at the Argus European Crude Conference in London, United Kingdom, on Wednesday, November 20.
