Hostilities between Russia and Ukraine has taken its toll on our inflow into international market – NNPC Ltd.

The Russia-Ukraine Crisis has triggered unprecedented ripple effects in the global economic space, with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) suffering a dip in demands from the once-dependable international market.

Mr. Femi Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer NNPC Ltd. in a statement mailed to Persecond News, on Thursday, said supply to India has shrunk since the beginning of hostilities between the two countries in February 2022.

Maryamu Idris, Executive Director, Crude & Condensate, NNPC Trading Limited, during a panel discussion at the Argus European Crude Conference in London, stressed that India, primary destination for Nigerian grades, now prefers the discounted Russian barrels to “the detriment of some Nigerian volumes.”

She said: “To illustrate the extent of this shift, Nigeria’s crude exports to India dwindled from approximately 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the six months preceding the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine to 194,000 in the subsequent six months afterward. And so far, this year, only around 120,000 bpd of Nigerian crude volumes have made their way to India.”

Persecond News reports that an estimated 1.6 billion people in 94 countries are exposed to at least one dimension of the crisis, and about 1.2 billion of them live in ‘perfect storm’ countries which are severely vulnerable to all three dimensions, food, energy and finance.

On the other hand, Maryamu Idris, pointed out that due to the embargo placed on Russian Crude by European countries Nigeria has stepped up supply to fill the gaps left by the ban.

“This trend makes it evident that Nigerian grades are increasingly becoming a significant component in the post-war palette of European refiners. Several Nigerian distillate-rich grades have become a steady preference for many European refiners, given the absence of Russian Urals and diesel. Forcados Blend, Escravos Light, Bonga, and Egina appear to be the most popular, and our latest addition — Nembe Crude – fits well into this basket. This was a strong factor behind our choice of London and the Argus European Crude Conference as the most ideal launch hub for the grade,” Idris also said.

According to Idris, better days are here for the nation’s hydrocarbon resources noting that production challenges are now a thing of the past as partnership with host communities and security as resulted in production boom.

She said: “NNPC Limited is championing concerted efforts in partnership with host communities and private stakeholders to address the security and environmental challenges in the Niger Delta to further fortify production growth. Suffice to say we have already begun seeing significant progress on the rebound.

“In September 2023, Nigeria recorded its highest crude oil and condensate output in nearly two years, reaching 1.72 million barrels per day. This, we believe, is just the beginning of our production rebound.”