How Nigeria’s first indigenous oil terminal will boost crude oil export
…As Ogoni oil finds new export outlet through $400m Otakikpo terminal when it starts
Marginal operators or indigenous oil/gas exploration companies that emerged in the hydrocarbon industry in the past 10 years when the window opened found two challenges confronting them. The first is how evacuation of crude oil to the export terminal (especially the Bonny terminal) because of the attacks on the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) which at a point led to total shutdown.
Crude oil produced by the independents or marginal operators suffered glut because it was found that if 100,000 barrels are fed into the TNP, about 60% would be lost. It was difficult to decide who would bear the loss: SPDC that owns the TNP, or the oil company that fed the crude into the TNP.
The second challenge is how to placate the host communities angered by the multinational owners so production could resume. Most indigenous owners realized that host communities seemed wiser and could hardly be taken for granted.
Now, two things have happened to create some respite to the indigenous investors. The first is the eventual emergence of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which created the template for dealing with the host communities through the creation of the Host Community Development Fund (HCDF). The oil companies are mandated to hand 3% of their capex to the HCDF of each oil well per year. The community is to decide what projects they deem fit and execute them, something akin to the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) template of SPDC and TotalEnergies in later days.
Places where this model is in action such as in Egi by TotalEnergies and Ikuru by GEIL have witnessed rapid development and massive investments of over N500m each. Peace seems to be on the table.
The second is the matter of export terminal and pipeline availability. The FG in the past three years initiated the use of firms to protect the pipelines such as Tantita and PINL. This has led to zero infraction in most months, and huge benefits to pipeline communities who hitherto felt left out.
Another angle in the pipeline solution is the building of Nigeria’s first indigenous oil terminal (private sector owned) which was commissioned in Otakikpo in Andoni LGA of Rivers State in the week.
This positive development has been confirmed by Lekan Akinyanmi, CEO of Lekoil, who in a statement admitted that exporting options have emerged.
He praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the leadership of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for creating an enabling environment. He said the commissioning of the terminal represents a validation of the company’s commitment to consistency and building lasting value.
Read also: Tinubu flags off $400m Otakikpo oil terminal in Rivers
“The commissioning of the Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Export Terminal is a proud moment for Lekoil. It validates our commitment to building lasting value as an indigenous producer, delivering our crude to the market reliably while supporting our host communities and Nigeria’s broader energy ambitions. This milestone is a clear indication that Lekoil represents resilience, responsibility, and results,” Akinyanmi stated.
Lekoil, along with Green Energy International Limited, her joint venture partner on the Otakikpo field (PML 11), he said, has consistently demonstrated that indigenous oil and gas companies can operate at world-class standards, unlock resources, aSdvance community development, and contribute to national production growth.
He went on: “With the commissioning of the terminal, Lekoil can now maximise the potential of Otakikpo, widely regarded as a prolific area for oil and gas nestled in the southeastern part of the Niger Delta basin, and ensure secure, efficient evacuation and re-enforce its reputation as a reliable supplier of Nigerian crude.
“This achievement underscores Lekoil’s place as a trusted and responsible operator with a long-term commitment to Nigeria’s energy security and economic growth and its vision: to be the world’s leading exploration and production company focused on Africa. We celebrate this historic commissioning as a major step in Lekoil’s growth story, one that confirms our standing as a bona fide independent producer with the capacity, the partnerships, and the will to deliver,” Akinyanmi added.
Lekoil Nigeria Limited, he said, is proud to mark a defining chapter in her journey as a leading independent oil and gas company in Nigeria, as President Tinubu, represented by Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), commissioned the Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Export Terminal.
The commissioning of the strategic export channel, through which Lekoil evacuates crude oil from the Otakikpo field, he added, is in line with ongoing reforms to expand Nigeria’s production capacity towards Nigeria’s economic development.
According to the company, “the Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Export Terminal is not just infrastructure; it is a symbol of progress, credibility, and the determination of indigenous producers to deliver value on a global stage.”
Background:
President Tinubu commissioned the first indigenous oil terminal, the $400m Otakikpo project, which is located in the oceanic area of Ikuru town, in the easternmost part of Rivers State.
This is as the president announced that the era of anxieties over offshore financing are almost over because of the $5bn African Energy Bank (AEB) fund which he said is set to begin operations.
Excitement is already in the air as the terminal is expected to create new route to export. The company, Lekoil, with its partners, has already said the Otakikpo terminal would make them one of the leading indigenous oil companies in Nigeria.
Lekoil said the commissioning of the strategic export channel, through which Lekoil evacuates crude oil from the Otakikpo field, is in line with ongoing reforms to expand Nigeria’s production capacity towards Nigeria’s economic development.
President Tinubu, who was represented at the commissioning by Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), said the era of battling with a lack of finance is over. According to him, the worst challenge in the upstream operation is access to finance, and the promoters of AEB have met all its obligations for the operations.
He thus assured Green Energy International Limited (GEIL) and all others that the era of perhaps looking elsewhere for finance will soon be over. “We have discovered that the biggest challenge we have in Africa is access to, you know, finance. And that was why we’ve come up with the African Energy Bank, which is ready to go. Nigeria, as the host country, has met its obligations.
“We have met all our obligations, legal, financial. We have met all our obligations. We are waiting, you know, for the bank to take off, which I think will take off, you know, any moment from now.”
President Tinubu commended the management of GEIL, recalling that the indigenous firm started from a marginal field the same time as other awardees who spent their finances on private jets, while GEIL decided to build an export terminal to create value in the industry.
He assured the company and other operators that are keeping to the terms of their licenses of total support and collaboration.
Tinubu gave update on the resumption of oil operations in Ogoni. “I need to state that in the commitment of the government that is already talking with the Ogoni people to resolve the Ogoni problem.
“And once the Ogoni problem is resolved, this will be the best terminal that will evacuate the crude oil we produce from Ogoni.”
He appealed to the Ogoni leaders to consider that for as long as the oil asset remained in the ground, neither the Ogoni nor the FG would extract any benefit from it.
Speaking, Gbenga Komolafe, the CEO of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), said the terminal is historic on two levels.
According to him, it expands Nigeria’s crude export infrastructure at a critical time and demonstrates the capacity of Nigerian operators to deliver world-class projects once thought possible only for international major players.
He further noted that the Otakiko terminal is significant to the present national crude oil production, that is, about 1.8million barrels, because the efficiency of evacuation and export is critical.
Komolafe also said that by creating an alternative export hub in Rivers State, the Otakikpo terminal reduces over-reliance on existing terminals, many of which are operating at near capacity and are exposed to security and pipeline challenges.
He said the industry’s indigenous operators have evolved to the stage of accounting for 30% of the national production.
Meanwhile, Anthony Adegbulugbe, the CEO of GEIL, said the storage capacity of the terminal is 750,000 barrels, which is expandable to 3 million barrels.
He also said it has a pumping capacity of 360,000bpd. The CEO added that since June 2025, the company has already completed four export operations, totaling one million barrels of crude oil.
He said beyond the numbers, the terminal is a catalyst for national renewal as it opens the door for more than 40 stranded fields in the region, with over 3 million barrels of reserves, long held back by a lack of export infrastructure.
According to him, the fields alone could contribute more than 200,000 barrels per day to the country’s production.
Adegbulugbe added that “with this terminal, their potential can finally be unlocked.”
The people of eastern Rivers State have started counting the gains of a new oil export terminal after Bonny island. The terminal is said to be better for export of oil from Ogoni, all within the OML 58.
Belema Sweet is another export terminal under construction which would be by the west of Bonny to also export crude and unlock the many oil wells whose oil is lying idle at the moment due to vandalized pipeline infrastructure and other oil disruptions in the region.
