The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has issued an approval to construct a one-million-barrel capacity onshore terminal to the operator of the Otakikpo Marginal Field located in OML 11, Green Energy International Limited (GEIL).
The issuance of the Approval to Construct (ATC) was sequel to the DPR’s review of the detailed engineering design for the Onshore Crude Oil Storage facility to be built in the proposed industrial park in Ikuru Town, Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.
In the letter conveying the approval dated April 23, 2019, the regulator stated that, “We hereby communicate the approval of the Director of Petroleum Resources to you for the detailed engineering design of one million barrels onshore crude oil storage facility project. You may, therefore, proceed with the construction and installation phase of the project.”
A statement from the GEIL noted that the proposed Otakikpo Onshore Terminal would be the first indigenous onshore terminal and also the first to be built in the country in the past five decades. Construction of the proposed terminal is expected to start soon by a consortium of internationally reputable contractors.
The project is part of the robust development strategy to expand production and de-risk the evacuation of its crude from the Otakikpo field, thereby reducing drastically the cost of its evacuation from the field.
The company said the proposed terminal would be strategically located to also benefit several otherwise stranded oil fields in the Eastern Niger Delta axis by providing a commercially viable and operationally efficient access to the export market.
Commending the DPR for its prompt approval of its proposed onshore terminal project, the Chairman of GEIL, Prof. Anthony Adegbulugbe, said the development of an onshore terminal was in synergy with the present administration’s overarching strategy to boost oil production while at the same time reducing cost of production.
