Nembe crude oil

API gravity

29°¹

Sulphur

Described as low sulphur; no figure published

Barrels per tonne

7.14 derived²

Standard cargo

950,000 bbl¹

Evidence basis: Secondary source Seller statement (no assay published), dated 7 November 2023. Crude quality varies from cargo to cargo; in any transaction the certificate of quality for the specific lifting governs, not a published assay.

Nembe: quality and origin

Nembe is one of four crude grades Nigeria has introduced since 2023. NNPC and its joint-venture partner Aiteo launched it on 7 November 2023 with two 950,000-barrel cargoes to France and the Netherlands, describing the crude as 29° API with low sulphur.¹

Why a new grade was created

Crude from OML 29 previously travelled through the Nembe Creek Trunk Line to the Bonny terminal and was sold as part of Bonny Light.³ The joint venture instead built its own export route: a floating storage and offloading unit with two million barrels of storage and a stated loading rate of 25,000 barrels per hour.¹ Separating the stream avoids dependence on a pipeline with a long history of disruption and lets the heavier Nembe barrels be priced on their own merits.

What is not yet public

No laboratory assay for Nembe has been published. Sulphur content, acidity, pour point and distillation yields are not available from any primary source we have found, and we do not reproduce unsourced figures. Argus groups Nembe with Nigeria's medium sweet grades.⁴ The regulator reported 41.72 thousand b/d for the stream in May 2026.⁵ A prospective buyer should request the seller's latest certificate of quality and a full assay under a confidentiality agreement.

Loading, operator and output

Loading point

Nembe Crude Oil Export Terminal (FSO) — see the export terminal database

Operator

Aiteo Eastern E&P, operator of the NNPC/Aiteo joint venture, OML 29¹

Producing area

Onshore and swamp, Bayelsa State; exported via an offshore floating storage unit

First export

November 2023

Status

Active

Reported output

41.7 thousand b/d — NEMBE stream, May 2026.⁵ 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

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

Checking an offer

A genuine Nembe 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 Nembe by API gravity. The comparison tool puts any of them side by side.