Sahara Group Acquires Seven Rigs to Ramp Up Oil Output to 350,000bpd

Sahara Group, a global energy and infrastructure conglomerate, is aggressively expanding its upstream capacity with a target of producing 350,000 barrels of oil per day within the next five years.

This growth will be driven by a significant upgrade of its Exploration and Production service offerings, development of its execution capacity, and the acquisition of seven brand new rigs for accelerated and more efficient production, Leste Aihevba, Chief Technical Officer, Asharami Energy, a Sahara Group Upstream Company has said.

Aihevba disclosed this while engaging investors and stakeholders at a strategic meeting on the sidelines of the recently concluded Africa Energy Week in Cape Town, where he also underscored the critical importance of local collaboration and regional cooperation to position Africa as a global energy leader.

“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 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.

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.”