President Bola Tinubu will commission a $400 million crude oil export terminal in Rivers State, a landmark project that boosts indigenous participation in Nigeria’s oil industry and tackles long-standing evacuation bottlenecks.
First onshore export facility in five decades
The Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Export Terminal, situated in Ikuru Town, Andoni Local Government Area, stands as the first new onshore crude terminal Nigeria has built in over 50 years. Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), the operator of the Otakikpo field in OML 11, developed the facility, making it the country’s first wholly indigenous crude export hub. Notably, Nigeria last commissioned a terminal of this kind in 1971 when the Forcados Terminal came on stream.
The unveiling, scheduled for 8 October, will draw senior government officials including Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil) Heineken Lokpobiri, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, as well as top executives across Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
Solving evacuation bottlenecks for stranded fields
The terminal is designed to serve as a lifeline for more than 40 stranded oil fields in the Niger Delta. For years, indigenous producers have struggled with evacuation, pipeline vandalism, oil theft, and high operational costs. Industry operators repeatedly flagged the absence of reliable evacuation outlets as a major hurdle to meeting the Federal Government’s three million barrels per day production target.
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 Otakikpo terminal promises to unlock millions of barrels of crude trapped underground while reducing unit costs for local producers.
“This project is a strategic infrastructure that supports the administration’s commitment to raising output while reducing costs,” GEIL’s Executive Director of Legal and Corporate Services, Olusegun Ilori, stated.
A boost for indigenous participation
Chairman and Chief Executive of GEIL, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe, described the terminal as a “game-changing national infrastructure,” underscoring its potential to reposition Nigerian independents in the global energy value chain.
“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 said.
Beyond increasing crude oil exports, the project is expected to stimulate jobs, attract fresh investment, and strengthen local content in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
Rebuilding investor confidence
The commissioning comes at a time Nigeria is battling to restore investor confidence amid declining production, pipeline losses, and rising costs of operation. Analysts see the Otakikpo terminal as both symbolic and strategic—an indigenous-led infrastructure that signals a gradual shift from dependency on international oil companies for export solutions.
By providing a secure, cost-effective evacuation system, the terminal is not just solving operational bottlenecks; it is also reinforcing President Tinubu’s broader economic reform agenda, which hinges on boosting oil revenue, expanding gas utilisation, and reviving investor interest in Africa’s largest crude producer.
