Tinubu to commission $400m Otakikpo Crude Export Terminal, Nigeria’s first in 50 years

By Joy Baba-Yesufu

President Bola Tinubu will on October 8 inaugurate the $400 million Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Export Terminal in Rivers State, marking the first crude export facility to be built in Nigeria in more than five decades.
The terminal, developed by Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), operators of the Otakikpo field in OML 11, Ikuru Town, Andoni Local Government Area, is the first wholly indigenous onshore terminal in Nigeria. The last facility of this kind, the Forcados Terminal, was commissioned in 1971.
According to a statement issued by Olusegun Ilori, GEIL’s Executive Director of Legal and Corporate Services, the new terminal aligns with the Tinubu administration’s agenda to increase crude oil production, cut costs, and tackle long-standing evacuation challenges.
The inauguration is expected to draw top government officials, including the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and other key stakeholders in the oil and gas industry.
With an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels (expandable to three million barrels) and a loading capacity of 360,000 barrels per day, the terminal is designed to serve as a lifeline to more than 40 stranded oil fields, providing a reliable evacuation outlet and unlocking millions of barrels of crude previously trapped underground.
GEIL Chairman and Chief Executive, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe, described the project as a “game-changing national infrastructure.”
“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,” he said.
Industry experts note that evacuation bottlenecks have long hindered Nigeria’s ability to meet its target of three million barrels per day, with frequent pipeline vandalism, oil theft, and rising operational costs worsening the problem.
The Otakikpo terminal is therefore expected to play a pivotal role in restoring investor confidence in Nigeria’s oil sector, boosting indigenous participation, and driving economic growth.