The production of Utapate, Nigeria’s newly introduced low-sulphur crude oil grade, has declined for the third consecutive month.
According to the latest crude output document obtained from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), production from the Utapate crude stream dropped to 1.155 million barrels in April 2025, down from 1.226 million barrels in March and 1.189 million barrels in February.
The January output was 1.299 million barrels, indicating a steady month-on-month decrease since the start of the year.
The Utapate blend is extracted from Oil Mining Lease 13, operated by NNPC Exploration & Production Limited in partnership with Natural Oilfield Services Limited, a subsidiary of SEEPCO Ltd.
At an average daily output of 28,000 barrels per day, the Utapate stream currently falls short of its 50,000 barrels per day target, a benchmark earlier set by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The company was producing 41,910 barrels per day in January.
Despite the recent slump, historical data show that Utapate output had witnessed a significant ramp-up in its early stages.
A month by month breakdown showed that Utapate crude oil production rose steadily from 309,434 barrels in May 2024 to a peak of 1.299m barrels in January 2025, before experiencing a decline to 1.155 million barrels by April 2025, following intermediate figures of 567,302 barrels in June, 754,222 in July, 996,070 in August, 1.150 million in September, 1.130 million in October, 1.160 million in November, 1.220 million in December, 1.189 million in February, and 1.226 million in March.
The figures reflect fluctuations industry analysts attribute to logistical, technical, or operational challenges common in new field developments.
NNPCL had in August 2024 flagged off the international sale of the new crude grade at the Argus European Crude Conference in London.
At the launch, Managing Director of NNPC E\&P Ltd, Mr Nicholas Foucart, described the move as a ‘milestone’ in Nigeria’s energy export ambitions.
‘Utapate gives Nigeria a competitive edge in the light-sweet crude segment’, he said.
Utapate’s low-sulphur content of 0.0655 per cent makes it a highly desirable grade in international markets, especially in regions with strict environmental standards.
Repsol, a major Spanish oil firm, won the tender for the first cargo, 950,000 barrels, while UK-based Gulf Transport and Trading secured contracts for subsequent cargoes in August and September 2024.
Meanwhile, the NUPRC’s report also listed five oil fields that reported zero production in April.
These include Ima, Ajape, Anambra Basin, Ukpokiti, and Asaramatoru.
These non-producing fields point to broader issues in the sector, ranging from underinvestment, insecurity, to operational inefficiencies—factors experts say must be addressed to stabilise Nigeria’s oil production trajectory.
In April, the country’s crude oil production hit 99 per cent of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, reaching 1.48 million barrels per day from the 1.40 million barrels per day recorded in March 2025.
This was contained in its document titled ‘Crude Oil and Condensate Production April 2025’.
The document said, ‘The average crude oil production was 99 per cent of the OPEC quota (1.5mbopd)’.
