NNPC to begin export of new Cawthorne crude grade in March

THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited will commence export of Cawthorne, a newly introduced light, sweet crude grade, before the end of March.

Spokesperson for the national oil company, Mr Andy Odeh, confirmed the development to TheCable on Tuesday. An earlier report by Reuters stated that Cawthorne has an API gravity of 36.4, placing it in a comparable quality range to Bonny Light, Nigeria’s premium crude blend known for its high gasoline and diesel yields.

Reuters also reported that NNPC issued a tender last week for cargoes scheduled to load between March 24 and 25.

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Energy intelligence firm Kpler told Reuters that the crude is expected to be exported via a floating storage and offloading vessel (FSO) also named Cawthorne. The vessel has a storage capacity of about 2.2 million barrels per day.

Based on the FSO’s capacity, Kpler analysts projected that the new stream could increase Nigeria’s crude and condensate production from around 1.65 million barrels per day to approximately 1.7 million barrels per day for the rest of the year.

Nigeria has rolled out other crude grades in recent years, including Obodo in 2025 and Utapate in 2024, as part of efforts to expand its oil offerings.

Crude production rose to 1.45 million barrels per day in January, compared to 1.42 million barrels per day in December 2025.