Tinubu To Commission Crude Oil Export Terminal In Rivers State

President Bola Tinubu will on October 8 commission the $400m Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Export Terminal in Rivers State, marking the first crude export facility built in Nigeria in over 50 years.

Developed by Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), operators of the Otakikpo field in OML 11 at Ikuru town, Andoni Local Government Area, the project is the first wholly indigenous onshore terminal in the country since the Forcados Terminal was commissioned in 1971.

The inauguration is expected to draw key stakeholders, including the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and senior industry leaders.

According to GEIL’s Executive Director of Legal and Corporate Services, Olusegun Ilori, the project directly aligns with President Tinubu’s vision to ramp up production and resolve Nigeria’s crude evacuation challenges. “This project is a strategic infrastructure that supports the administration’s commitment to raising output while reducing costs,” Ilori said.

The Otakikpo terminal, with an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels expandable to three million and a loading capacity of 360,000 barrels per day, is expected to significantly cut production costs for local producers. Industry experts note it could also unlock crude from more than 40 stranded oil fields that have struggled with evacuation bottlenecks.

Chairman and CEO of GEIL, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe, hailed the development as a “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 commissioning highlights the Federal Government’s renewed effort to restore investor confidence in Nigeria’s oil sector, which has grappled with declining production, pipeline vandalism, oil theft, and rising operational costs in recent years.