Nigerian energy company Green Energy International has lifted its first crude cargo from the recently completed Otakikpo onshore terminal, situated near Port Harcourt in Nigeria.
The facility received its maiden cargo via a vessel chartered by energy major Shell in June 2025.
Crude was transported from the Otakikpo marginal field – located in Rivers State and operated by Green Energy International – signalling the start of operations of the onshore terminal.
The Otakikipo facility represents the first indigenous onshore terminal constructed in the country in five decades. Construction started in 2023, with the terminal completed in June 2025, six-months ahead of schedule.
Green Energy International began injecting crude in March 2025, with production averaging 5,000 barrels per day.
The company has received regulatory approval to boost production to 30,000 bpd under a revised field development plan. This aligns closely with ambitions by the company to scale-up Nigerian crude production, supporting African energy development.
The Otakikpo facility aligns closely with national goals of increasing crude storage and production to two million bpd, as it is expected to play a major role in processing crude from marginal fields.
The state-of-the-art facility has a storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, with plans underway to increase capacity to three million barrels, depending on market demand.
The terminal also features an export capacity of 360,000 barrels per day, with crude transported via a 23-km 20-inch pipeline, connecting to a single point mooring system in the Atlantic Ocean.
This way, the terminal is capable of receiving crude from several marginal fields, allowing operators to significantly reduce transport costs by reducing the reliance on costly offshore floating stations.
The terminal is also expected to unlock previously-stranded crude resources from more than 40 marginal fields across the region, with a capacity to receive up to 250,000 barrels per day from third-party producers. As such, the terminal offers a domestic solution to producing, storing and exporting crude, supporting national development goals.
In 2020, the government launched a marginal field bidding round to entice operators – both indigenous and international – to invest in these fields.
The bid round drew over 591 companies seeking to develop 57 oilfields, with 161 companies shortlisted.
Most of these firms represented indigenous operators, highlighting both the commitment by indigenous companies to invest in Nigerian oilfields and the level of opportunity in the company’s offshore market.
The Otakikpo facility is a critical step towards improving domestic storage and production solutions in Nigeria and serves as a strong example for other indigenous operators in regional markets.