Conoil Producing, the oil exploration arm of billionaire Mike Adenuga, has kicked off the export of Nigeria’s newest crude oil blend — the Obodo blend — in a historic move that signals a bold leap for indigenous energy players.
The Obodo blend, a medium sweet crude extracted from the onshore OML 150 block, was officially launched in April by Conoil Producing under a production sharing contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The block is operated by Continental Oil & Gas, one of Adenuga’s subsidiaries.This marks a major milestone for Nigeria’s oil industry, as Adenuga becomes the first Nigerian businessman to both discover and now export a new crude blend.
Oando Trading, led by Group Chief Executive Wale Tinubu, became the first company to lift the Obodo crude, with the offtake carried out by its vessel Atlantic Spirit under the supervision of Century Ports and Terminals.
“Congratulations to Dr. Mike Adenuga (GCON) and the entire Conoil team for successfully producing OBODO Crude, Nigeria’s newest medium sweet crude grade blend,” said Tinubu. “We’re honoured to have played a part in this chapter of your story by lifting the first cargo for international export — a bold leap for indigenous excellence on the global energy stage.”
The feat was made possible with support from Century Ports and Terminals and the Tamara Tokoni floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which bridged the flow between Conoil’s wells and Oando’s export tanker.
Conoil Producing, which started in the 1990s as Consolidated Oil, became the first Nigerian company to strike oil commercially in shallow waters. Today, it holds six oil blocks in the Niger Delta, with reserves estimated at over 400 million barrels of oil and 1.8 trillion cubic feet of gas.
According to the company’s unaudited financials for 2024, revenue surged from N201.4 billion ($125.3 million) in 2023 to N323.2 billion ($201 million), while profits rose from N9.9 billion ($6.15 million) to N11.4 billion ($7.1 million).
Decades after his first oil breakthrough, Adenuga continues to expand his legacy. As Tinubu put it, “Hats off to Century Group… this is a major milestone for indigenous operators.”
