Nigeria’s state oil company NNPC has exported its first cargo of a new light crude grade, Cawthorne, to the Netherlands, the company said on Wednesday.
NNPC is aiming to boost production and diversify its export streams as Nigeria works to lift output after years of underinvestment, oil theft and operational disruptions.
About 950,000 barrels were shipped from the Cawthorne floating storage and offloading vessel (FSO), located off Bonny in Rivers State, which supports output from oil mining lease 18, NNPC said.
The launch follows recent additions such as Nembe and Utapate crudes under what NNPC described as a broader strategy to expand Nigeria’s portfolio of exportable oil blends.
Nigeria produced about 1.4 million barrels per day in March, OPEC data shows, well below capacity.
NNPC Chief Executive Bashir Bayo Ojulari said the development supported government targets to raise crude output to three million bpd by 2030.
Nigeria depends on oil exports for most of its foreign exchange earnings.
(Reporting by Camillus Eboh in Abuja and Isaac Anyaogu in Lagos Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe Editing by David Goodman)
