The licences were approved and issued to the companies in Abuja by Authority Chief Executive ACE, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority NMDPRA Farouk Ahmed. The NNPCL Exploration and Production Ltd. operates Utapate Export Terminal, located in Akwa Ibom State while the Belema Sweet Export Terminal Ltd is located in Rivers State. They are the first set of licences to establish crude oil terminals, sealed and granted by the NMDPRA. Speaking at the signing of the Terminal Establishment Licences, Ahmed said the development would add more than four million barrels capacity to Nigeria’s Export Storage. He said the issuance of the licences were pursuant to the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA 2021) which stipulated new provisions for the establishment of new export terminals.