Green Energy International Limited (GEIL) has completed its $400 million Otakikpo Terminal in Rivers State, a development in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry set to end its 50-year reliance on foreign-built crude oil export infrastructure.
The chairman of GEIL, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe, who made this known, described the terminal as “a project whose time has come.”
Prof. Adegbulugbe disclosed that the firm’s establishment of the first indigenous $400 million onshore oil Otakikpo Terminal in Rivers State will play a significant role in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
He explained, “For over five decades, Nigeria has depended exclusively on export terminals constructed by multinational oil companies. The Otakikpo Terminal is the first indigenous facility of its kind, built and operated by Nigerians, and it will change the narrative significantly.”
Adegbulugbe stated this during an interview with select journalists in Abuja on Saturday. He added that the terminal will live up to expectations and change the oil and gas industry narrative.
With the completion of the terminal, President Bola Tinubu is expected to inaugurate the facility in due course.
Speaking on the uniqueness of Otakikpo Terminal, the Green Energy boss said, “The whole idea is a project whose time has come. Right now, we have an ageing network of export infrastructure that has been a limiting factor to the production of oil in Nigeria.
“We have put in place a modular facility of 750,000 barrels storage capacity that is expandable to 3,000,000 barrels, and we are working with relevant stakeholders to keep recording successes”.
Adegbulugbe further disclosed that the terminal will attract four sets of investors, which will promote the positive development of the oil sector.
He said, “The Otakikpo terminal, which is the newest, is catering for four sets of E and P companies. The first set is those who have small reserves far away from oil export infrastructure pipeline and they can’t afford to build a pipeline because of the small reserves”
“This time around, they have a solution through trucking option. That is, they can truck 1,000-1,500 barrels into our terminal. Getting to the terminal, we have very good road network. So, if you are around 50 kilometres or thereabouts, you can come to Otakikpo terminal.
“Then, another set of companies have fields around creeks where they can’t do any trucking but they can do barging. Again, we cater for those in that category. They can barge or even aggregate and come to where we call kilometre 6 because we already have a pipeline from our field to 6 kilometers offshore and it is a bi-directional, which we are using right now for our export as we can turn it around”.
“You can bring your barge to kilometer 6, pump your oil onshore and from onshore it goes directly into our terminal. So that again gives succour to those fields and there are so many of them”.
“The third set of Investors are those with fields 20 kilometres offshore. One of the mitigating factors for them for exporting is that they may not have enough capital to facilitate the required facility. Again, we have a 23-kilometre bi-directional pipeline offshore”.
Adegbulugbe further said, “They can have a smaller vessel, produce and come to kilometre 23 and pump again onshore, and they can export
“The fourth set are the companies within 40 kilometres from us. Even if they have enough money for the required infrastructure, there is an issue of theft. They produce hundred barrels and get paid sometimes about 80 per cent with 20 per cent loss and that is imparting on their bottom line. Again, we offer a solution”.
On the strategies put in place to ensure safety, the GEIL boss disclosed that the pipelines are designed to be in three phases as part of strategies to ensure safety,
He said, “All the pipelines coming to us are designed to be three-phase. Multipurpose solution. That is, you give us your oil, give us water, give us your gas. With gas in that pipeline, it is relatively safe from pipeline vandalisation. So we offer that solution”.
“So you are sure that if you bring your one hundred barrels to our terminal, you can get paid for 100 barrels. This is the kind of option we are bringing to the table”.
It is instructive to note that until the end of March 2025, Nigeria had five large-sized onshore crude oil terminals, each with capacity to pump 300,000 barrels of oil per day into seaborne export transportation units.
The terminals include the Bonny terminal built by Shell Petroleum and now operated by Renaissance Africa Energy Limited, Qua Iboe terminal built by Mobil Producing and now operated by Seplat Energy, Brass Oil River Terminal built by Nigerian Agip now operated by Oando, Forcados terminal built by Shell Petroleum now operated by Renaissance Africa Energy Limited and Escravos terminal built and operated by Chevron.
For the records, these five terminals are the export points of about 50 percent of Nigerian crude oil condensate while they were built by multi-nationals over 50 years ago to receive crude from fields operated by these firms and export them to foreign markets.
The development explains why GEIL’s establishment of Otakikpo Terminal in Rivers State will be a game changer and continue to remain a reference point in the history of oil and gas exploration and production in Nigeria.
The newly constructed Otakikpo Terminal boasts an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, with potential expansion to 3 million barrels. It also features a 360,000 barrels per day pumping capacity for loading export tankers, making it one of the most significant infrastructure projects in Nigeria’s energy landscape.
The project, completed ahead of schedule in under two years, has already made history as the first privately developed crude oil terminal by an African operator.
With an initial investment exceeding $400 million and a full-phase development projection of $1.3 billion, GEIL’s commitment to expanding Nigeria’s oil export infrastructure is evident.
The Otakikpo terminal is designed to accommodate up to 250,000 barrels per day of crude injection, while the Otakikpo field currently produces around 10,000 barrels per day.
The terminal opens strategic opportunities for third-party producers, particularly over 40 nearby stranded fields estimated to hold more than 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE).
Beyond supporting stranded reserves, the terminal’s proximity to the Ogoni fields aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s pledge to revitalize the Ogoni and Opobo fields, which have remained underdeveloped for more than 30 years.
By unlocking these assets, GEIL’s infrastructure provides cost-effective evacuation for stranded oil, positioning Nigeria for increased production and export growth.
As Nigeria continues to modernise its oil infrastructure, the successful completion of GEIL’s Otakikpo crude oil terminal underscores the country’s capacity for innovative energy solutions, fostering sustainable growth for years to come.
