Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (“NNPC Ltd”) is selling 4,000,000 barrels per month of Bonny Light Crude Oil (BLCO) through Refined Fuel Partners, at a gross trading margin of $3.00 to $4.00 per barrel.
The distinguishing feature is the off-take. A contracted off-taker performs vessel takeover at the loadport and pays for the cargo. The programme therefore does not fund the purchase of crude and does not hold unsold barrels — the buyer is in place, with its own vessel and its own payment obligation, before each lifting.
That is the same discipline that governs the twelve-month fuel contracts: a matched position, a contracted counterparty on both sides, and no open exposure to the direction of the oil price.
Each lifting is a closed loop. The seller is a sovereign-owned national oil company; the buyer is contracted and takes the vessel itself; the platform instrument stands behind the transaction rather than funding the cargo.
NNPC Ltd sells BLCO on an FOB basis under its crude oil sale framework, lifted at the Bonny Terminal against a confirmed allocation.
Refined Fuel Partners is the contracting party, responsible for title and for the export and shipping documentation on each cargo.
A contracted off-taker performs vessel takeover at the loadport and pays for the cargo. Because the buyer is committed before the lifting window opens, the programme is not exposed to finding a buyer after purchase, to freight it has not contracted, or to holding barrels through a price move.
A bank credit instrument stands behind the transaction. Where capital is applied to operational purposes within a lifting, it is applied under a letter of credit issued against that instrument — a documented, transaction-specific use rather than an advance at large.
Participation is offered through the Securitization Platform owned by Energy Sources Securities (“ESS”), of which Energy Source Holdings is the Promoter.
The economics are driven by two variables only: barrels lifted and margin per barrel. Both ends of the stated band are shown below at the full monthly volume.
| Commodity | Bonny Light Crude Oil (BLCO) |
| Monthly volume | 4,000,000 bbl |
| Delivery basis | FOB, Nigerian loadport |
| Off-take | Vessel takeover by off-taker; off-taker pays for cargo |
| Pricing | Index-referenced, per the sale contract |
| Title | Passes in accordance with the sale and off-take contracts |
A light, sweet Nigerian export grade lifted at the Bonny Terminal, historically traded at a premium to heavier and more sour benchmarks because its low sulphur content and high middle-distillate yield suit refineries producing diesel and jet fuel — the same products that underpin the twelve-month contract programme.
Exact API gravity and sulphur content for any given cargo are certified by independent inspection at the loadport against the contractual specification.
NNPC Ltd is Nigeria’s national oil company and the commercial vehicle through which the Federation monetises its crude. It is a substantial, audited, profit-reporting enterprise — and, like any state-owned oil company, one whose record a counterparty should read in full rather than in summary.
Incorporated in July 2021 under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020, converting the former statutory corporation into a limited liability company. Shares are held for the Federation by Ministry of Finance Incorporated and Ministry of Petroleum Incorporated.
Average crude and condensate production across 2025, against reported revenue of ₦60.5 trillion. December 2025 output was 1.54 million bpd, which NNPC attributed to scheduled maintenance and unplanned outages.
Profit after tax of ₦5.760 trillion (approximately $4.26 billion) for 2025, with ₦14.7 trillion of statutory payments to government agencies and partners. NNPC states that 2025 figures remain provisional pending final reconciliation.
NNPC published its first group-level audited financial statements in its then 43-year history, alongside subsidiary accounts — a step the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative described as a significant milestone for the company.
For financial year 2023 NNPC reported a ₦3.3 trillion net profit and declared a ₦2.1 trillion dividend — a company now reporting and distributing on a conventional corporate basis.
NNPC awards crude lifting entitlements through published expression-of-interest and tender processes under its term contract and direct-sale frameworks, with awards made to a defined list of counterparties.
Because the off-taker performs vessel takeover and pays for the cargo, investor exposure runs principally to the off-taker’s payment obligation and its supporting bank instrument, and to the integrity of the allocation and title documentation — not to NNPC’s balance sheet. NNPC is the party that must deliver; it is not the party that must pay us. Diligence weight should be placed accordingly.
These are the material risks specific to this programme, summarised here and set out in full in the confidential transaction materials.
| Risk type | Severity | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Allocation | Medium | An entitlement to lift at this volume depends on a confirmed allocation under NNPC’s sale framework. Participation is not confirmation that any particular monthly volume has been allocated, contracted or will be sustained. Allocation documentation is made available for review under the transaction materials. |
| Documentary fraud | Low | The market for Nigerian crude offers is widely affected by fraudulent or unverifiable paper — unsolicited “full corporate offers” purporting to confer BLCO allocations. This programme transacts only against verified allocation and contract documentation with NNPC Ltd, and does not participate in the secondary broker-offer market. |
| Lifting / terminal | Medium | Nigerian export liftings have historically been interrupted by pipeline interference, crude theft, terminal maintenance and force majeure declarations, which can delay or reduce cargo availability and affect quality at the loadport. Delay remedies, quality certification and force majeure allocation are governed by the sale and off-take contracts. |
| Off-taker performance | Low–Med | Because the off-taker pays for the cargo and performs vessel takeover, its failure to perform is the central commercial risk. Mitigation rests on the off-taker’s bank instrument and on the availability of alternative buyers for a light, sweet, widely traded grade. |
| Margin compression | Medium | The $3.00–$4.00 band is a gross trading margin, not a contractual entitlement. Differential movements, freight, demurrage, financing and instrument costs can compress realised margin, and per-lift transaction costs are deducted before any distribution. |
| Sanctions / AML | Low | Nigerian crude flows require sanctions and anti-money-laundering screening of counterparties and vessels, and are subject to Nigerian foreign-exchange and export regulation. Screening and compliance procedures apply to every lifting and counterparty. |
| Contract transparency | Low–Med | The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has identified NNPC’s oil and gas sales contract disclosure and systematic reporting as areas still to be fully implemented. Counterparties should expect to rely on contract-level documentation provided directly rather than on public disclosure of sale terms. |
| Operational use of capital | Medium | Within an individual transaction, capital may be applied to operational purposes under a letter of credit issued against the platform instrument. Capital so applied is at risk within that transaction and is not held solely as untouched collateral. |
Monthly volume is nominated against the allocation, and the off-taker confirms its lifting window, vessel and destination.
The off-taker posts its payment instrument, and the platform instrument and any transaction letter of credit are put in place ahead of the lifting window.
Vessel takeover at the loadport, independent inspection and certification of quantity and quality, and issue of the export documentation.
Payment against documents, reconciliation of per-lift transaction costs, and margin settlement into the programme.