Nigeria’s new oil terminal poised to boost local production – Bloomberg

Nigeria’s newest crude oil export terminal — the first to be built in the country in 50 years — is planning an expansion to help boost capacity as local firms grow their role in raising output.

The Otakikpo onshore facility, capable of storing 750,000 barrels of crude, was built and is operated by Nigeria-based Green Energy International Ltd. Expansion work is under way to quadruple that to 3 million barrels, Chief Executive Officer Anthony Adegbulugbe said in an interview in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

Green Energy is looking to more than double its own crude production to expand its exports, while also working with several producers to ship their crude overseas, Adegbulugbe said. The terminal features multiple injection points, he said.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest crude producer, has boosted output by increasing security and implementing reforms to raise investment, while relying increasingly on local producers as big international firms exit some fields.
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The $400 million terminal, located in the OML 11 block southeast of the oil hub of Port Harcourt, was financed through a mix of local and international partnerships, including funding support from Shell Plc, Lagos-based Fidelity Bank Plc and others, according to Adegbulugbe. Capable of pumping 350,000 barrels a day, it can open up potential drilling prospects for more than 40 stranded fields in the region, he said.
The facility is a catalyst to marginal field operators and midstream service providers, supporting the government’s broader local content agenda, Temitope Ajayi, a government spokesperson, said in response to questions. “It allows local operators to control the full value chain, from production to export,” he said.

The terminal generates 15 megawatts of gas-fired power for its operations, helping to cut production costs. Green Energy also plans to add a gas processing and methanol plant, a mini-LNG facility for which discussions are ongoing with African Export-Import Bank on a $20 million financing package, and an industrial park to supply gas to manufacturers.