Evidence basis: Industry Price-agency or government typical value, dated August 2026. Crude quality varies from cargo to cargo; in any transaction the certificate of quality for the specific lifting governs, not a published assay.
We have not been able to open a current operator-published assay for Escravos; the operator's public assay pages were unavailable when checked. Values shown are price-reporting-agency typical qualities, not laboratory results.
Escravos: quality and origin
Escravos is a light sweet blend from Chevron-operated joint-venture fields in the western Niger Delta, exported from an offshore terminal off Delta State. Argus Media's typical quality for the grade is 34° API and 0.15% sulphur, with a standard cargo of 950,000 barrels.1
Conflicting figures in circulation
The EIA's Nigeria brief lists Escravos at 32° API and 0.20% sulphur,3 and at least one explainer that ranked prominently in search results when we checked on 18 September 2026 gives a sulphur range of 1.5–2%, which is inconsistent with every assay-based source we have seen and would make the crude sour rather than sweet. We flag this because such errors are copied from site to site. Where a current operator assay is unavailable, as here, the right course is to ask the seller for the latest certificate of quality rather than to rely on any website — including this one.
Terminal
A port directory describes two single-buoy moorings, one accepting tankers up to about 308,000 DWT and one able to take the largest crude carriers; these limits should be confirmed with the terminal or a ship's agent before fixing a vessel.4 The regulator reported 131.71 thousand b/d through Escravos in August 2026.5
Who uses it
Escravos is one of the Nigerian grades reported in the Dangote refinery's intake,6 and the EIA notes that the state-owned Warri and Kaduna refineries were designed around crude from the Escravos system — though both were shut at the time of writing.37
How published figures compare
Publishers quote different qualities for Escravos because assays are run years apart on a stream whose field mix changes, and because price-reporting agencies publish rounded "typical" values. We show the figures side by side rather than silently choosing one.
| Source | API | Sulphur wt% | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argus Media, August 20261 | 34 | 0.15 | Industry |
| EIA table, Nov 20253 | 32 | 0.2 | Government |
Loading, operator and output
- Loading point
- Escravos Terminal (offshore SBMs) — see the export terminal database
- Operator
- Chevron Nigeria Limited (NNPC/Chevron joint venture)8
- Producing area
- Onshore and shallow-water western Niger Delta, Delta State
- Status
- Active
- Reported output
- 135.5 thousand b/d — ESCRAVOS stream, crude plus condensate, May 2026.9 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
- 7.36 barrels per tonne at this gravity (our derived figure) — the barrels-to-tonnes converter has Escravos as a preset
- Checking an offer
- A genuine Escravos 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 Escravos by API gravity. The comparison tool puts any of them side by side.