President Bola Tinubu is set to inaugurate the Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Export Terminal, developed by Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), next Wednesday in Rivers State.
GEIL operates the Otakikpo field PML 11, situated in Ikuru Town, Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State. This terminal marks the first onshore facility constructed in Nigeria by a wholly indigenous company and is the only new terminal established in the country in the past 50 years, with the previous one, the Forcados Terminal, being commissioned in 1971.
The inauguration, scheduled for October 8, will be attended by Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, prominent federal officials, and key stakeholders in the oil and gas sector, led by Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum.
According to a statement from Mr. Olusegun Ilori, Executive Director of Legal and Corporate Services at GEIL, the completion of the terminal aligns with the Tinubu administration’s commitment to enhancing oil production in Nigeria.
Industry operators have pointed to evacuation challenges as a significant obstacle in meeting the federal government’s target of producing 3 million barrels of crude oil daily. The Otakikpo terminal aims to address this issue by providing a reliable evacuation route for over 40 stranded oil fields, thereby unlocking millions of barrels of oil previously inaccessible.
This $400 million facility boasts an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, expandable to 3 million barrels, and a loading capacity of 360,000 barrels per day. It is anticipated to aid the government’s efforts in reducing production costs within the industry.
Prof. Anthony Adegbulugbe, Chairman and Chief Executive of Green Energy, who will host the commissioning event, emphasized the significance of the facility, stating, “What we have achieved here is not just a storage solution but a transformative national infrastructure that opens new avenues for approximately 40 stranded oil fields to finally make a contribution to the economy.”
