GEIL completes $400 million onshore project under Anthony Adegbulugbe

Key Points

• GEIL completes Nigeria’s first indigenous onshore crude terminal in 50 years, a $400 million project with 750,000 barrels storage and 360,000 BPD capacity.
• The Otakikpo terminal unlocks over 3 billion barrels of stranded oil reserves from nearby fields, offering new export routes for domestic producers.
• GEIL plans a $1.3 billion expansion with five more terminals, aiming to boost Nigeria’s oil output, reserves, and infrastructure resilience.

Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), an upstream oil and gas company led by energy entrepreneur Anthony Adegbulugbe, has completed the construction of the Otakikpo crude oil terminal, a $400 million project that promises to reshape onshore oil logistics in the Niger Delta. It’s a major milestone: the first onshore crude export terminal built in Nigeria in over 50 years, and the first ever delivered by a homegrown operator.

Nigeria’s first indigenous onshore crude terminal in half a century

Built ahead of schedule between the second quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2025, the Otakikpo terminal starts with a storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, with room to expand to 3 million barrels. It also features a maximum pumping capacity of 360,000 barrels per day (BPD).

The terminal is designed to serve the region for at least 25 years. Its 20-inch, 23-kilometer export pipeline connects directly to an unmanned offshore mooring system, allowing crude oil to move efficiently onto tankers bound for international markets.

Although the Otakikpo field currently produces around 10,000 BPD, the terminal has been built with much bigger ambitions in mind. It can handle up to 250,000 BPD of injected crude, offering spare capacity that could serve dozens of smaller oil fields nearby. Crude injection into the terminal’s tanks began on March 30, 2025, with the first exports scheduled between May 23 and May 25.

Opening the door to over 3 billion barrels of stranded oil

The opportunity is huge. GEIL estimates that more than 40 stranded oil fields within 120 kilometers of the terminal hold over 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) in reserves, with a combined potential output of more than 200,000 BPD.

“This terminal offers a cost-effective and purpose-built evacuation route for fields that have long been locked out of the market,” Adegbulugbe said during a tour of the facility. “It’s about unlocking value and creating opportunities where none existed before.”

Until now, Nigeria’s onshore oil producers have faced tough odds. Only five major terminals served the entire sector, relying on a network of pipelines stretching across more than 84,000 kilometers of swampy, river-laced, and often unstable terrain. The old system was vulnerable to sabotage, expensive to maintain, and prone to frequent disruptions.

Laying the groundwork for a $1.3 billion expansion

The Otakikpo project is just the start of a bigger plan. Under Adegbulugbe’s leadership, GEIL has grown into one of Nigeria’s most ambitious players in the upstream oil and gas sector, particularly in the Otakikpo Field.

The $400 million terminal is the first phase of a larger development program expected to top $1.3 billion. GEIL has already mapped out five additional sites across the Niger Delta for future terminals and is working closely with government stakeholders to clear the way for their rollout.

Full deployment of the Otakikpo terminal is expected to boost Nigeria’s oil production and reserves, improve operational efficiency, cut down on export losses, and offer domestic producers, long held back by aging infrastructure, a chance to compete on a stronger footing.