Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), a Nigerian-owned oil company, successfully completed its first crude oil export from the newly built Otakikpo terminal in Rivers State. This terminal is Nigeria’s first privately developed onshore crude export facility in more than 50 years.
According to a company statement, the maiden export was carried out using Shell’s off-taker vessel MV, which lifted the cargo at 2:00 PM. This milestone signals the terminal’s full operational readiness after a successful technical test run.
The Otakikpo terminal, built at a cost of over $400 million, was completed in less than two years, well ahead of schedule. It currently has a storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, with room to expand to three million barrels. It also includes infrastructure capable of pumping up to 360,000 barrels per day to load export tankers, placing it among Nigeria’s most significant energy infrastructure projects.
GEIL’s Chairman, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe, praised the resilience and dedication of the company’s entirely indigenous workforce. He acknowledged the role of regulatory bodies in supporting the project, calling their involvement vital to the successful execution of what he described as a historic event.
The Otakikpo field currently produces around 10,000 barrels of oil per day. However, the new terminal is built to handle crude injections of up to 250,000 barrels per day. This opens the door for nearby producers to tap into the infrastructure, especially over 40 stranded oil fields in the vicinity that are believed to hold more than three billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Professor Adegbulugbe emphasized that the full development phase of the project is projected to cost $1.3 billion, reinforcing GEIL’s long-term commitment to expanding Nigeria’s oil export capacity.
