Tinubu to Inaugurate Nigeria’s First New Crude Export Terminal in 50 Years on October 8

President Bola Tinubu will on October 8 commission 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 project, developed by Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), operators of the Otakikpo field in OML 11, Ikuru town, Andoni Local Government Area, is the first fully indigenous onshore terminal in the country since the Forcados Terminal, which was inaugurated in 1971.

Dignitaries expected at the ceremony include the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and major industry stakeholders.

In a statement on Thursday, GEIL’s Executive Director of Legal and Corporate Services, Olusegun Ilori, said the facility aligns with President Tinubu’s agenda to boost crude production and ease Nigeria’s long-standing evacuation challenges.

“This project is a strategic infrastructure that supports the administration’s commitment to raising output while reducing costs,” Ilori stated.

The terminal is projected to provide a lifeline for more than 40 stranded oil fields by offering a reliable evacuation route, unlocking millions of barrels of crude that have remained untapped. It has an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, expandable to three million barrels, with a loading capacity of 360,000 barrels per day. This is expected to lower production costs significantly, particularly for indigenous producers.

GEIL Chairman and Chief Executive, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe, described the facility as a “game-changing national infrastructure,” noting that it would enable stranded oil fields to finally contribute to Nigeria’s economy.

The commissioning comes as the Federal Government intensifies efforts to restore investor confidence in the oil and gas sector, which has been plagued by declining production, pipeline vandalism, crude theft, and mounting operational costs.