Cawthorne crude oil

API gravity

36.4°¹

Sulphur

Not stated by the seller

Barrels per tonne

7.47 derived²

Standard cargo

950,000 bbl¹

Evidence basis: Secondary source Seller statement (no assay published), dated 7 April 2026. Crude quality varies from cargo to cargo; in any transaction the certificate of quality for the specific lifting governs, not a published assay.

Cawthorne: quality and origin

Cawthorne is Nigeria's newest export grade. NNPC announced on 7 April 2026 that the maiden 950,000-barrel cargo had loaded on 5 April for the Netherlands, describing the crude as light and sweet at 36.4° API and comparable to Bonny Light.¹

Where it comes from

The grade evacuates production from OML 18 in Rivers State through a dedicated floating storage and offloading unit moored off Bonny.¹ Like Nembe, it represents barrels that previously reached the market inside the Bonny Light blend and now have their own export route, reducing reliance on shared trunk pipelines.

Ramp-up

The regulator's provisional table shows the Cawthorne stream rising from 12.34 thousand b/d in January 2026 to 28.94 thousand b/d in May.³ At that rate a standard cargo accumulates roughly every five weeks (our arithmetic). In early August 2026 NNPC offered a Cawthorne cargo for 21–22 September loading by tender with a next-day bid deadline, according to Reuters — a useful illustration of how these barrels are actually sold.⁴

What is not yet public

NNPC's release does not state sulphur content, and no assay has been published. "Comparable to Bonny Light" is the seller's characterisation. Buyers should obtain the certificate of quality and a full assay directly from the seller before valuing the grade.

Loading, operator and output

Loading point

Cawthorne FSO, offshore Bonny — see the export terminal database

Operator

NNPC Ltd with its OML 18 partners¹

Producing area

Onshore eastern Niger Delta, Rivers State (OML 18)

First export

April 2026

Status

Active and ramping up

Reported output

28.9 thousand b/d — CAWTHORNE stream, May 2026 (12.34 kb/d in January 2026).³ This is production by stream, not exports; part of some streams is delivered to Nigerian refineries.

Pricing basis

A differential to Dated Brent — see how Nigerian crude is priced

Volume conversion

7.47 barrels per tonne at this gravity (our derived figure) — the barrels-to-tonnes converter has Cawthorne as a preset

Checking an offer

A genuine Cawthorne cargo traces back to the operator and loading point above. See who can lawfully sell Nigerian crude and the verification centre before engaging any seller

Comparable grades

The Nigerian grades closest to Cawthorne by API gravity. The comparison tool puts any of them side by side.