By Obinna Uballa
President Bola Tinubu will on October 8 commission the $400 million Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Export Terminal in Rivers State, marking Nigeria’s first new crude export facility in more than five decades.
Developed by Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), operators of the Otakikpo field in OML 11, Ikuru Town, Andoni Local Government Area, the terminal is the first wholly indigenous onshore facility built in Nigeria since the Forcados Terminal was inaugurated in 1971.
The historic commissioning is expected to draw top government officials, including Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and leading industry stakeholders.
According to GEIL’s Executive Director of Legal and Corporate Services, Olusegun Ilori, in a statement on Thursday, the project aligns with Tinubu’s agenda to boost crude oil production and tackle Nigeria’s long-standing evacuation bottlenecks.
“This project is a strategic infrastructure that supports the administration’s commitment to raising output while reducing costs,” Ilori said.
The Otakikpo terminal is positioned to unlock over 40 stranded oil fields by providing a reliable evacuation outlet, a move industry experts say could significantly raise production and cut costs for indigenous operators.
With an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, expandable to three million, and a loading capacity of 360,000 barrels per day, the facility is set to serve as a lifeline for Nigeria’s oil sector.
GEIL’s Chairman and Chief Executive, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe, described the terminal as “game-changing national infrastructure,” adding: “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.”
The project comes as the Federal Government intensifies efforts to restore investor confidence in the sector, long plagued by declining output, oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and rising operating costs.
