Nigeria Crude OilMerchant
Crude intelligence

Nigerian crude oil grades

Nigeria exports more than thirty crude and condensate streams, not one. This database records the quality, loading point, operator and evidence basis of each — and shows the date and source of every figure, because published specifications for the same grade often disagree.

23 streams recorded 14 company-published assays read

Grade database

Sort any column, or filter by name or quality class. "Basis" tells you how much weight a figure can bear: a company assay is a laboratory analysis published by a producer or equity holder; a typical value is a rounded quality used by a price-reporting agency or government table; a seller statement means no assay has been published at all.

Class Loading point Basis and date
Bonny Light 34.9 0.15 7.40 Light sweet Bonny Oil & Gas Terminal (offshore SBMs) Company-reported
TotalEnergies Trading, 18 June 20201		 293.9
Qua Iboe 37.3 0.12 7.51 Light sweet Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT) Company-reported
ExxonMobil, 19 January 20242		 173.4
Forcados 31.5 0.22 7.25 Medium sweet Forcados Terminal (offshore SPMs) Company-reported
TotalEnergies Trading, 1 March 20143		 289.9
Escravos 34 0.15 7.36 Light sweet Escravos Terminal (offshore SBMs) Industry
Argus Media, August 20264		 135.5
Bonga 27.7 0.26 7.08 Medium sweet Bonga FPSO Company-reported
ExxonMobil, 21 March 20255		 102.5
Agbami 47.2 0.05 7.95 Very light sweet / condensate Agbami FPSO Industry
Argus Media, August 20264		 69.2
Brass River 36.6 0.13 7.48 Light sweet Brass River Terminal Company-reported
TotalEnergies Trading, 1 May 20186		 43.5
Akpo 46.7 0.07 7.93 Condensate / very light sweet Akpo FPSO Company-reported
TotalEnergies Trading, 22 October 20207		 37.4
Egina 27.3 0.17 7.07 Medium sweet Egina FPSO Company-reported
TotalEnergies Trading, 4 October 20198		 49.6
Erha 35.1 0.18 7.41 Light sweet Erha FPSO Company-reported
ExxonMobil, 20 May 20229		 69.7
Usan 27.4 0.29 7.07 Medium sweet, high-acid Usan FPSO Company-reported
ExxonMobil, 21 February 202510		 32.2
Amenam Blend 38.7 0.11 7.57 Light sweet Odudu terminal (FSO Unity) Company-reported
TotalEnergies Trading, 11 January 202111		 63.3
Nembe 29 n/p 7.14 Medium sweet (new grade, 2023) Nembe Crude Oil Export Terminal (FSO) Secondary source
NNPC Ltd, 7 November 202312		 41.7
Utapate 44 0.0655 7.81 Light sweet (new grade, 2024) Utapate offshore loading (FSO) Secondary source
Vanguard, 5 August 202413		 59.2
Cawthorne 36.4 n/p 7.47 Light sweet (new grade, 2026) Cawthorne FSO, offshore Bonny Secondary source
NNPC Ltd, 7 April 202614		 28.9
Yoho 41 0.06 7.68 Light sweet Yoho FSO Company-reported
ExxonMobil, 3 July 201915		 —
EA Blend 30.47 0.11 7.21 Medium sweet Sea Eagle FPSO Industry
Argus Media, August 20264		 15.0
Ebok 17.9 0.44 6.65 Heavy, high-acid Ebok FSO Company-reported
ExxonMobil, 31 July 202016		 7.2
CJ Blend (Anyala–Madu) 35.72 0.1 7.44 Light sweet Not verified Industry
Argus Media, August 20264		 50.3
Obodo 27.65 0.05 7.08 Medium sweet (new grade, 2025) Not stated in any source we have opened Secondary source
Argus Media, 25 March 202517		 0.0
Okwuibome 24 0.1 6.92 Medium sweet Tulja FSO Industry
U.S. Energy Information Administration, 18 November 202518		 63.6
Antan 28 0.03 7.10 Medium sweet Antan terminal (FPSO) Industry
U.S. Energy Information Administration, 18 November 202518		 6.9
Okono 42 0.06 7.72 Light sweet Okono FPSO Industry
U.S. Energy Information Administration, 18 November 202518		 6.3

API gravity and sulphur as published by the source shown. Barrels per tonne is our derived figure from API gravity (see methodology). Output is the regulator's May 2026 production by stream in thousand barrels per day, not exports.19

n/p = not published in any source we have been able to open. We leave gaps empty rather than fill them with unsourced figures. Several smaller streams (Pennington, Okwori, Abo, Okoro, Otakikpo, Jones Creek, Ajapa) are producing according to the regulator but have no quality data we can cite, so they are listed in the terminal database only.

How to read Nigerian crude quality

Almost all Nigerian crude is sweet — sulphur is typically 0.05–0.3% by weight, against well over 1% for most Middle Eastern export grades. What separates the grades is gravity, acidity and yield:

  • Light sweet grades (roughly 34–41° API) such as Bonny Light, Qua Iboe, Escravos, Brass River, Erha and Amenam are distillate-rich and leave little residue.
  • Medium sweet grades (roughly 27–32° API) such as Forcados, Bonga, Egina and Nembe are valued for very high gasoil yields.
  • Condensate-like streams above 44° API — Agbami, Akpo and Utapate — are naphtha- and kerosene-rich; the regulator counts Agbami and Akpo as condensate, outside the OPEC crude quota.20
  • High-acid outliers exist: Usan (acid number 1.65) and Ebok (3.19) need suitable refinery metallurgy.1016

Why figures for the same grade differ

Most Nigerian grades are blends of many fields, so quality drifts as the field mix changes; assays are repeated only every few years; and widely copied tables contain transcription errors. We found, for example, Yoho's sulphur printed as 0.60% in two respected publications where the assay says 0.06%,1518 and Bonga still listed at about 29° API although the 2025 assay measures 27.7°.5 Each grade page shows the competing figures side by side.

New grades since 2023

Four new export grades have been introduced as producers built their own evacuation routes to avoid shared pipelines: Nembe (November 2023), Utapate (July 2024), Obodo (2025) and Cawthorne (April 2026).12211714 None has a published assay yet; their pages record exactly what the sellers have stated and nothing more.

Who buys which grade

Publicly reported tenders show Indian state refiners buying Agbami, Usan, Forcados, Bonga and Utapate, and Indonesia's Pertamina buying Forcados and Qua Iboe.222324 The documented purchases, country by country, are in which countries buy Nigerian crude oil.

Compare grades

Put up to four Nigerian grades side by side, with the evidence basis for every figure.

Open the comparison tool

Barrels to tonnes

Convert volumes using each grade's own density rather than a world-average factor.

Open the converter

How grades are priced

Dated Brent, official selling prices and what a differential actually means.

Read the pricing guide

Sources

  1. TotalEnergies Trading — Bonny Light crude assay (published 18 June 2020; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reportedAssay date 18 June 2020. Company-reported; a blend whose quality moves with field mix.
  2. ExxonMobil — Qua Iboe assay (ref. QUAIB24Y) (published 19 January 2024; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reportedPublished with the company's no-warranty disclaimer.
  3. TotalEnergies Trading — Forcados crude assay (published 1 March 2014; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reportedAssay date 1 March 2014 — more than a decade old.
  4. Argus Media — Argus Crude methodology and specifications guide (West Africa typical qualities and cargo sizes) (published August 2026; retrieved 18 September 2026) Industry'Typical' values used for price assessment, not a laboratory assay.
  5. ExxonMobil — Bonga assay (ref. BONGA25Y) (published 21 March 2025; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reported
  6. TotalEnergies Trading — Brass River crude assay (published 1 May 2018; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reported
  7. TotalEnergies Trading — Akpo Blend assay (published 22 October 2020; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reported
  8. TotalEnergies Trading — Egina crude assay (published 4 October 2019; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reported
  9. ExxonMobil — Erha assay (ref. ERHA22Y) (published 20 May 2022; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reported
  10. ExxonMobil — Usan assay (ref. USAN25Y) (published 21 February 2025; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reported
  11. TotalEnergies Trading — Amenam Blend assay (published 11 January 2021; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reported
  12. NNPC Ltd — NNPC/Aiteo joint venture launches Nembe crude oil grade (published 7 November 2023; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reportedPress release; no laboratory assay has been published.
  13. Vanguard — NNPC unveils new crude oil grade, Utapate, exports first cargo to Spain (published 5 August 2024; retrieved 18 September 2026) Secondary sourceRelays NNPC statements.
  14. NNPC Ltd — NNPC Ltd launches Cawthorne crude onto global market, exports first cargo to Netherlands (published 7 April 2026; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reportedPress release; sulphur content not stated; no assay published.
  15. ExxonMobil — Yoho assay (ref. YOHO19Y) (published 3 July 2019; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reported
  16. ExxonMobil — Ebok assay (ref. EBOK20X) (published 31 July 2020; retrieved 18 September 2026) Company-reported
  17. Argus Media — Nigeria expands crude supply with medium sweet Obodo (published 25 March 2025; retrieved 18 September 2026) Industry
  18. U.S. Energy Information Administration — Country Analysis Brief: Nigeria (published 18 November 2025; retrieved 18 September 2026) GovernmentExport volumes are EIA and Global Trade Tracker estimates for calendar 2024. Grade table draws on Argus, Reuters and OIES.
  19. Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission — 2026 daily average crude oil and condensate production by terminal stream, January–May (provisional) (published June 2026; retrieved 18 September 2026) RegulatoryProduction by stream, not exports. Provisional.
  20. Oxford Institute for Energy Studies — Nigerian Barrels and the Demand Shock (published June 2020; retrieved 18 September 2026) Industry
  21. African Energy Council — NNPC Ltd launches new crude oil exports to Spain (published 7 August 2024; retrieved 18 September 2026) Secondary source
  22. Reuters, via Leadership — India expands crude purchase from Nigeria (published September 2025; retrieved 18 September 2026) Secondary sourcePublication date approximate.
  23. Reuters, via OilPrice.com — India's HPCL snaps up Nigerian crude (published 4 August 2026; retrieved 18 September 2026) Secondary source
  24. Kpler — West African crude prices recover on Asian demand (retrieved 18 September 2026) IndustryThe page carries no publication date.

Last reviewed 18 September 2026. Found an error? Tell us — see our methodology and corrections policy.