Tope Shonubi's Sahara deploys a 380,000-barrel tanker to speed crude exports from OML 18

Sahara Upstream has put a 380,000-barrel tanker into service at OML 18, adding a second mother vessel to an oil block where the constraint on production has been getting crude out rather than getting it up.

The Medium Range tanker, MT D Adesanya, carries more than 62,000 cubic metres and will operate alongside MT D Bayero, the existing mother vessel. It is stationed at Bonny Anchorage, where it will receive crude from shuttle vessels working the field and transfer it to the FSO Cawthorne, a floating storage and offloading facility.

Sahara said the deployment will cut turnaround time, raise throughput and reduce bottlenecks. It did not disclose what the vessel cost.

The arrangement matters because of what it replaces. Crude produced in the Niger Delta has traditionally moved through pipelines to export terminals, and those pipelines have been the weak point in Nigerian production for two decades. A marine evacuation chain running from field to shuttle vessel to mother vessel to floating storage bypasses fixed infrastructure entirely, at the cost of requiring ships, anchorage and coordination.

The bottleneck it addresses is a queue. A single mother vessel can only receive from one shuttle at a time and must wait to discharge into storage. Shuttles that cannot unload sit idle, and production upstream has to slow to match. Adding a second vessel doubles the receiving capacity at the anchorage.

Tosin Etomi, chief value officer at Sahara Upstream, framed the purchase as capacity for volumes the company expects to produce rather than volumes it produces now.

"By strengthening our evacuation infrastructure, we are enhancing operational reliability, improving efficiency and creating the flexibility needed to support increasing production volumes today and in the future," he said.

He linked it to export earnings. "Efficient evacuation systems are essential to maximising the value of our energy resources," he said, arguing that better reliability supports export efficiency and economic activity more broadly.

Etomi also made a sustainability argument that follows from the logistics. Ships burning fuel while waiting to unload generate emissions without moving anything, so reducing idle time cuts consumption. "Improved vessel utilisation, reduced waiting times and shorter idle periods translate into a more efficient evacuation system," he said.

The vessel carries the name of a colleague. Debola Adesanya, who ran Sahara's Kenyan operations, died on May 1. The company said the naming honours his contribution to its growth across East Africa.

Tope Shonubi and Wale Ajibade, both executive directors, described the ship as a tribute.

"Debola was one of the most resilient colleagues and friends we have ever known," Shonubi said. "This vessel ensures that his legacy continues to inspire future generations. As we reflected during his funeral, the day you are born, you begin to die, but it is how you live between birth and death that defines how you are remembered. Through this strategic asset, Debola's memory will continue to power progress across Nigeria, Africa and beyond."

Shonubi co-founded Sahara Group in 1996 with Tonye Cole. The company has grown from oil trading into one of the largest privately held energy businesses in Nigeria, with operations spanning upstream production, trading, power generation and distribution across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. It publishes no consolidated accounts.

The tanker follows two other additions to the upstream operation. Sahara deployed the FSO Cawthorne earlier, and has expanded oilfield services through Arahas Global Oilfield Services.

The company describes the spending as part of a strategy it calls Beyond XXX, which Etomi characterised as investing now for opportunities later.

Sahara has not said what production level OML 18 is currently achieving, or what the expanded evacuation capacity is intended to support.