The newest crude oil types from Nigeria, Utapate and Cawthorne together gave 12.16 million barrels in production between January and May of 2026, which helped enhance Nigeria’s standing in the global oil market.
According to the numbers, Utapate provided 8.75 million barrels in the five months, producing an average of 58,000 barrels of oil daily.
The total output of Cawthorne was 3.41 million barrels; the production increased from 12,000 to almost 31,000 barrels of oil per day within those five months.
These two grades of crude oil proved popular among foreign investors due to their lightness and low sulfur content that allow for large-scale petrol and diesel production. Utapate crude oil is viewed as an environmentally friendly type because there is no gas flaring involved in its production process.
As industry insiders point out, the grades have continued to become more appealing to European and Asian refineries as a way to explore alternative sources of crude oil owing to disruptions that affect the transport channels around the Strait of Hormuz.
Cawthorne crude grade reportedly has an API gravity rating of 36.4, which makes it light and sweet similar to the Bonny Light grade considered to be among the most desirable Nigerian export grades, according to NNPC Ltd.
While the grade’s production has been rising consistently, the amount produced is lower than initially expected. While it was expected that the production would hit 80,000 barrels per day by the end of 2025, only 59,170 barrels per day were produced in May 2026.
The introduction of the new grades has helped improve the fortunes of Nigeria’s oil industry at large. According to estimates, on average, Nigeria produced more than 1.53 million barrels of oil a day in May 2026, which was the first time in 15 months that Nigeria exceeded its OPEC quota.
Increased demand by countries that are trying to import crude oil from different countries has been an advantage to Nigeria, which exported more than $2.4 billion worth of crude to Indonesia in the first four months of 2026
