Sahara Group, one of Africa’s leading energy and infrastructure conglomerates, has announced plans to ramp up its upstream crude oil production to 350,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) within the next five years.
This growth will be driven by a major upgrade of our exploration and production services, enhanced execution capacity, and the acquisition of seven brand-new rigs to accelerate and improve production efficiency,” said Leste Aihevba, Chief Technical Officer of Asharami Energy, an upstream subsidiary of Sahara Group.
Aihevba made this disclosure while addressing investors and stakeholders during a strategic meeting on the sidelines of the recently concluded Africa Energy Week in Cape Town.
He emphasized the critical role of local collaboration and regional cooperation in positioning Africa as a global energy leader.
“The journey towards a secure and sustainable energy future for Africa cannot be travelled in silos.
“Every refinery upgrade, every gas commercialization project, every power reform and community wealth accretion initiative must be part of a broader continental blueprint.” Aihevba said,
Aihevba said Sahara’s massive infrastructure drive is transforming its operations and boosting capacity and global competitiveness in Africa’s energy sector. “At Sahara Group, we continue to invest in the infrastructure needed to responsibly unlock Africa’s resources across our upstream, midstream, power and infrastructure businesses, covering the full value chain”, he stated.
“We have expanded our reserves development and production capacity with the acquisition of seven rigs for both drilling and workover. This bold and strategic drive also complements our efforts geared towards accelerating the pace from exploration to production, enhancing local content participation, and ensuring Africa efficiently develops the reserves that will power the continent’s growth and energy future,” he said.
Sahara acquires seven new oil rigs
The company said it has acquired seven additional oil rigs to enhance exploration and production capacity across its assets in Nigeria and other key locations where it operates.
This rig acquisition, Aihebva noted, is central to Sahara’s plan to boost its production to at least 350,000 bbl/d of oil and 1,000,000 MMScf/d of gas in Nigeria within the next five years.
“Two of the seven new rigs are already in the country, with another two expected to arrive before year-end. Our upstream operations are anchored on a robust shared prosperity approach, which recognises our host communities and government as partners, collaborating towards becoming locally competent and globally competitive in bringing energy to life responsibly.”
Aihevba highlighted that these investments are already yielding results, noting that one of the rigs, the state-of-the-art 2000 HP Land rig named L-Buba, has successfully commenced operations by spudding a gas development well in one of Sahara’s fields, with the second rig currently being mobilised to the site to spud an oil development well, and other rigs to follow soon. The rigs will be managed by Arahas Global Oilfield Services, a Sahara Group company.
“By matching our investments in infrastructure with development and deployment of exceptional human capital, fostering cross-border partnerships, localizing global technical expertise, and technology adoption, we are making marked contributions to the growing efforts towards accelerating Africa’s energy transition while ensuring no community is left behind.”
