The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) announced on Tuesday the introduction of a new low-sulfur crude oil grade named Nembe, primarily targeting the European market.

Nigeria has been battling  with declining oil production occasioned by  crude theft, attacks on pipelines in the Niger Delta, and insufficient investment, resulting in reduced government revenue and substantial fiscal deficits.

However, in recent months, there has been an increase in oil output.

Maryamu Idris, the Executive Director of Crude and Condensate at NNPC Trading, shared at the Argus European Crude Conference in London that the Nembe crude grade is on par with other well-established African blends from Nigeria, such as Forcados, Egina, and Bonga.

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Around three years ago, the incorporation of Nembe production into the Bonny Light stream faced disruptions due to sabotage on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL), as reported by an NNPC source during the Argus European Crude Conference in London. Nonetheless, Nigeria has successfully resurrected Nembe as a distinct oil grade. This is not the first time Nigeria has offered shipments of this new grade. In October, NNPC sold two 950,000-barrel cargoes to France and the Netherlands, according to a source from a Nigerian oil firm at the conference. Presently, Nigeria’s Nembe production hovers at approximately 50,000 barrels per day (bpd). The nation’s goal is to ramp up Nembe production to 80,000 bpd by the first quarter of 2024 and further to 150,000 bpd by early 2025, as per information shared with Reuters.

Notably, Nigeria has consistently fallen short of meeting its production quota in the OPEC+ agreement. Currently, Nigeria’s oil production is roughly 1 million bpd below its full capacity. The government attributes this to a lack of investments, limited funding sources due to the global energy transition, and security concerns.

Nigeria has ambitious plans to substantially boost its oil production to reach up to 1.7 million bpd by November 2023, with the hope of securing a higher quota within the OPEC+ agreement. Gabriel Tanimu Aduda, the Permanent Secretary at Nigeria’s Ministry of Petroleum Resources, shared this aspiration with Energy Intelligence in July. At the beginning of the year, Nigeria’s quota stood at 1.742 million bpd, but due to consistent underproduction exceeding 400,000 bpd, the OPEC+ meeting in early June lowered Nigeria’s output cap to 1.38 million bpd.