Tinubu to Inaugurate $400m Crude Oil Export Terminal in Rivers

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

President Bola Tinubu will on Wednesday next week commission the Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Export Terminal, built by Green Energy International Limited(GEIL) in Rivers State.

GEIL is the operator of the Otakikpo field  PML 11, with operational base in Ikuru town, Andoni local government of Rivers state and is the first indigenous onshore terminal to be built in Nigeria by a wholly indigenous company.

It is also the only one built in the country in the last  50 years, as the last one before the  Otakikpo Terminal, which is the Forcados Terminal, was commissioned in 1971.

The official inauguration scheduled for October 8 is expected  to be attended by the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, top government functionaries at the federal level as well as key stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, to be  led by the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri

A statement signed by the Executive Director of Legal and Corporate Services, Mr Olusegun Ilori, said the completion of the terminal is a strategic initiative that aligns with the  determination of  the Tinubu-led administration to boost oil production in the country.

Operators in the oil and gas sector have identified evacuation challenges as a major barrier to achieving the federal government’s goal of producing 3 million barrels of crude oil per day.

The Otakikpo terminal is therefore expected to provide a lifeline to over 40 stranded oil fields  who now have a ready evacuation outlet, thus  unlocking millions of barrels of oil  otherwise held down in the wells.

The  $400 million new Terminal with an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, expandable to 3 million barrels and a loading capacity of 360,000 barrels per day  is  also expected to support the government’s objective  of lowering production cost in the industry.

Chairman and Chief Executive of Green Energy, and chief host of the commissioning event Prof. Anthony Adegbulugbe  described the facility as a game-changer.

“What we have achieved here is not just a storage solution, but a game-changing national infrastructure that has opened a new pathway for about 40 stranded oil fields to finally contribute to the economy,” he stressed.