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Sahara Group, a leading global Energy and infrastructure conglomerate, the Sahara Group, is aggressively expanding upstream capacity to produce 350,000 barrels of oil per day in the next five years.
- Official statement made available to Prime Business Africa by the group on Sunday disclosed that anticipated growth will be driven by a significant upgrade of its Exploration and Production service offerings, development of execution capacity, and acquisition of seven brand new rigs for accelerated and more efficient production.
According to Leste Aihevba, the Chief Technical Officer running the Asharami Energy, an upstream company belonging to the Sahara Goup, “The journey towards a secure and sustainable energy future for Africa cannot be travelled in silos,” Aihevba said, adding. “Every refinery upgrade, every gas commercialization project, every power reform and community wealth accretion initiative must be part of a broader continental blueprint.”
Aihevba made the disclosure while engaging investors and stakeholders at a strategic meeting on the sidelines of the recently concluded Africa Energy Week in Cape Town. At the Cape Town event, the Asharami Energy COO underscored the critical importance of local collaboration and regional cooperation to position Africa as a global energy leader.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAihevba said the journey towards a secure and sustainable energy future for Africa could ‘not be travelled in silos,” just as he added that “every refinery upgrade, every gas commercialization project, every power reform and community wealth accretion initiative must be part of a broader continental blueprint.”
He described Sahara’s infrastructure drive as “massive”, stressing that it “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 said: “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.”
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 site to spud an oil development well, and others 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.”
