- API gravity
- 37.3°1
- Sulphur
- 0.12 wt%
- Acidity (TAN)
- 0.27 mg KOH/g
- Pour point
- +9 °C
- Barrels per tonne
- 7.51 derived2
- Standard cargo
- 950,000 bbl3
Evidence basis: Company-reported Company-published assay, dated 19 January 2024. Crude quality varies from cargo to cargo; in any transaction the certificate of quality for the specific lifting governs, not a published assay.
Qua Iboe: quality and origin
Qua Iboe is a light sweet crude produced from shallow-water fields offshore Akwa Ibom State and loaded at the Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT). It has one of the most recent public assays of any Nigerian grade: ExxonMobil's January 2024 analysis gives 37.3° API, 0.12% sulphur, a total acid number of 0.27 mg KOH/g and a pour point of +9 °C.1
The assay shows a high middle-distillate yield, with 370 °C+ residue at about 26% by volume and only 4.7% boiling above 550 °C.1 The positive pour point is worth noting: in our reading it indicates a waxier crude than Bonny Light, which matters for cold-climate storage and pipeline handling and should be checked against the certificate of quality for a specific cargo.
Change of operator
Many websites and port directories still name ExxonMobil or Mobil as the operator. That is out of date: Seplat Energy completed its acquisition of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited on 12 December 2024 and now operates the joint venture with NNPC, including the terminal, whose design capacity Seplat states as 600,000 barrels per day with loading from single-point moorings about 23 miles offshore.4 The regulator reported 171.72 thousand b/d through the terminal in August 2026, the third largest in the country.5
Who buys it
Qua Iboe is a regular feature of Asian purchase tenders: tanker-tracking firm Kpler has reported Indonesia's Pertamina buying Forcados and Qua Iboe cargoes,6 and the EIA notes that Nigeria has been Indonesia's largest single source of imported crude.7
Distillation yields
| Cut | Yield (vol%) |
|---|---|
| C5–65 °C | 5.6 |
| 65–100 °C | 6.8 |
| 100–150 °C | 11.3 |
| 150–200 °C | 9.7 |
| 200–250 °C | 10.9 |
| 250–300 °C | 12.2 |
| 300–350 °C | 11.5 |
| 350–370 °C | 4.1 |
| 370 °C+ residue | 26.1 |
| of which 550 °C+ | 4.7 |
Other assay values: density 837.9 kg/m³; viscosity 4.8 cSt at 20 °C; 3.1 cSt at 40 °C; nickel 3.5 and vanadium 0.3 mg/kg.1
How published figures compare
Publishers quote different qualities for Qua Iboe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ExxonMobil, 19 January 20241 | 37.3 | 0.12 | Company-reported |
| Argus typical, Aug 20263 | 36.6 | 0.13 | Industry |
| EIA table, Nov 20258 | 38 | 0.12 | Government |
Loading, operator and output
- Loading point
- Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT) — see the export terminal database
- Operator
- Seplat Energy Producing Nigeria Unlimited, operator of the NNPC/SEPNU joint venture since 12 December 2024 (formerly Mobil Producing Nigeria)4
- Producing area
- Shallow-water offshore Akwa Ibom State
- Status
- Active
- Reported output
- 173.4 thousand b/d — QUA IBOE stream, 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
- 7.51 barrels per tonne at this gravity (our derived figure) — the barrels-to-tonnes converter has Qua Iboe as a preset
- Checking an offer
- A genuine Qua Iboe 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 Qua Iboe by API gravity. The comparison tool puts any of them side by side.