Port Harcourt, Rivers State – In a significant boost to Nigeria’s energy infrastructure and indigenous capacity, President Bola Tinubu is scheduled to commission the $400 million Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Export Terminal in Rivers State on October 8.
The commissioning of the Otakikpo terminal is a landmark event, as it represents the first new crude export facility built in the nation in over 50 years. The last comparable facility, the Forcados Terminal, was commissioned in 1971.
Developed by Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), operators of the Otakikpo field in OML 11, this facility is also the first wholly indigenous onshore terminal built in Nigeria, marking a major milestone for local content development.
A Lifeline for Stranded Oil Fields
The new terminal is positioned as a “game-changing national infrastructure,” according to GEIL’s Chairman and Chief Executive, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe.
The primary strategic benefit of the facility is its potential to address Nigeria’s crippling oil evacuation bottlenecks. These long-standing issues, often caused by pipeline vandalism and oil theft, have hindered the Federal Government’s target of reaching three million barrels per day (bpd) in production.
“What we have achieved here is not just a storage solution, but a pathway for about 40 stranded oil fields to finally contribute to the economy,” Adegbulugbe stated.
Boosting Production and Reducing Costs
The Otakikpo terminal aligns directly with President Tinubu’s stated goal of boosting crude oil production and reducing operational costs for local producers.
The facility boasts an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, which is expandable to three million barrels, and a robust loading capacity of 360,000 barrels per day.
GEIL’s Executive Director of Legal and Corporate Services, Olusegun Ilori, emphasized that the project is a “strategic infrastructure that supports the administration’s commitment to raising output while reducing costs,” offering indigenous producers a more secure and reliable means of getting their crude to market.
The inauguration ceremony is expected to draw top dignitaries, including the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, and Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, alongside key stakeholders from the oil and gas sector. The commissioning underscores the Federal Government’s commitment to restoring investor confidence in an oil sector recently plagued by declining production and operational challenges.
