Brass River In 2005 the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) was producing oil from 146 wells, and operated an export terminal at Brass River. Brass River Crude Oil is a sweet medium light crude. In the 17th and 18th centuries the Portuguese controlled the Brass River, which was closed to British traders and was an outlet for shipping slaves to the Americas. The town of Brass was inaccessible, reached only via the creeks. After 1807 the British began trying to suppress the slave trade. Don Pablo Frexas, in alliance with the chiefs of Brass and Bonny, was the main organizer of the
Brass River River, had contributed towards building an iron church. It was opened on 9 October 1884 in presence of the congregation of 1,202 people. The congregation of St. Barnabas at Tawn, Brass River, had started to raise contributions for a similar iron church. At one time the town of Twon-Brass was the main port of the Nembe Kingdom, called by one historian "the Venice of the Niger Delta", and was dominant in the palm oil trade of the region. When the Royal Niger Company became an increasingly strong rival in the trade, the town's economy was severely damaged. In January 1895