Sahara Group, one of Africa’s leading energy and infrastructure conglomerates, has announced ambitious plans to ramp up its upstream crude oil production to 350,000 barrels per day within the next five years.

This projected growth will be fueled by a major upgrade of its exploration and production services, enhanced execution capacity, and the acquisition of seven brand-new rigs to accelerate and improve production efficiency, according to Leste Aihevba, Chief Technical Officer of Asharami Energy, a Sahara Group Upstream Company.

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.

He stressed the need for a unified continental approach, stating: “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 noted that Sahara’s massive infrastructure drive is transforming its operations and boosting capacity and global competitiveness in Africa’s energy sector.

Detailing the infrastructure drive, Aihevba stated: “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 confirmed the expansion of their operational capacity, saying: “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.”

The company confirmed the acquisition of seven additional oil rigs to enhance exploration and production capacity across its assets in Nigeria and other key operating locations.

Aihevba noted that this rig acquisition 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.

Providing an update on the rig deployment, Aihevba said: “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.

The second rig is currently being mobilized to the site to spud an oil development well, with the remaining rigs to follow soon. The rigs will be managed by Arahas Global Oilfield Services, a Sahara Group company.

He concluded by outlining the strategy for long-term contribution: “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.”

In related news, Nigeria’s crude oil production grew by 5.5% year-on-year in August 2025, averaging 1.43 million barrels per day compared to 1.36 million bpd in the same period last year, according to data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.

The latest figures showed that Nigeria achieved 96% of its Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries production quota of 1.5 million bpd.

Furthermore, in September, Sahara Group announced that its Afam 2 Power Plant in Rivers State is now generating 160 megawatts of electricity into Nigeria’s national grid.