Mordi chukwunonso Esther
According to trading and shipping sources, Nigeria has loaded a 700, 000 barrel cargo of oil from its newest field, Anyala West in Oil Mining Leases 83 and 85, and it is on its way to Northwest Europe.
In a report by sweet crude report correspondent, Data intelligence firm, Kpler said the Aframax Minerva Clara loaded a 700,000-barrel stem of Anyala crude from the Abigail-Joseph floating production, storage and offloading vessel on January 10, and the tanker is on its way to the Fos-sur-Mer terminal, located at France’s Mediterranean port of Marseille.
OMLs 83 and 85 are in the shallow waters offshore Bayelsa State where FIRST E&P is the operator of the two blocks on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation/FIRST E&P Joint Venture.
S&P Global Platts quoted sources as saying on Monday that a trading house, Vitol, had chartered this tanker, as it has a stake in indigenous producer FIRST E&P.
One market source said the cargo was likely to travel from Fos-sur-Mer to the Cressier refinery in Switzerland through the SPSE pipeline.
The 68,000 bpd Cressier is operated by Varo Energy.
Varo Energy is a joint venture between Vitol, private equity fund the Carlyle Group, and private investment fund Reggeborgh.
Sources said that a second cargo would load in March, with some Asian refiners already showing buying interest.
Anyala has been labeled a medium sweet crude grade, similar in quality to Nigeria’s flagship crude Bonny Light, sources added.
When refined, Anyala will produce a high yield of middle distillates, making it attractive to both simple and complex refineries.
Oil was first struck in the Anyala West oil fields in the Niger Delta in November, and when fully developed, production is expected to reach 60,000 bpd, according to FIRST E&P.
In a note by FIRST E&P, seven development wells have been planned in Phase 1 in the Anyala West field (OML 83), which will be developed along with the nearby Madu field in (OML 85). The project is estimated to contain 300 million barrels of crude oil recoverable reserves.
The final investment decision on the project was made in July 2018, while first oil was initially expected in 2019.
From a previous close of $54.79 per barrel, international Brent gained 1% to sell at $55.38 per barrel on Monday at 10:07AM Nigerian time.
