One of the most spectacular stories of 2019 started off in the first days of the outgoing year. Some 150 kilometers off the Nigerian coast, the oil major Total and its project partners brought onstream the Egina FPSO, the largest-ever built by the French firm. Then most of the news revolved around the new approaches employed for the purpose – most notably a third of the FPSO modules were built in Nigeria, boosting the project’s localization statistics. Yet as 2019 comes to a close, one can say with sufficient certitude that Egina has effectuated something which was previously unthinkable. Not only did it become the most expensive Nigerian crude, it conquered the European continent and became something of a brand there. First, let’s look at the dry numbers. Egina is heavier than the average Nigerian crude, standing at 27.5 degrees API yet shares the low Sulphur content of its […]