President Bola Tinubu is set to inaugurate the $400 million Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Export Terminal in Rivers State on October 8, marking Nigeria’s first new crude export facility in more than five decades.
The terminal, located in Ikuru town, Andoni Local Government Area, was developed by Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), operators of the Otakikpo field in OML 11. It is the first wholly indigenous onshore export terminal in Nigeria, following the commissioning of the Forcados Terminal in 1971.
GEIL, in a statement signed by its Executive Director of Legal and Corporate Services, Olusegun Ilori, said the project supports President Tinubu’s drive to boost crude production and resolve Nigeria’s longstanding evacuation bottlenecks. The inauguration will draw senior government officials, including the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and leading industry stakeholders.
With an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, expandable to three million, a loading capacity of 360,000 barrels per day, the facility is expected to provide a critical evacuation outlet for more than 40 stranded oil fields. Industry operators say this could unlock millions of barrels previously trapped underground while cutting costs for indigenous producers.
GEIL Chairman and Chief Executive, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe, described the project as a “game-changing national infrastructure.” He noted that the terminal not only provides storage but also opens the way for smaller oil fields to contribute meaningfully to Nigeria’s economy.
The project comes at a time when the Federal Government is working to restore investor confidence in the oil and gas sector, which has been hampered by declining production, pipeline vandalism, oil theft, and rising operational costs.
