Energy conglomerate, Sahara Group, has ordered two Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) vessels to further drive access to clean energy in Africa in line with its commitment to promoting the continent’s quest for energy transition.
The contracts for the construction of the two gas carriers with capacity of about 40,000-cubic metres each capacity were signed a fortnight ago in Singapore between Sahara Group with headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirate (UAE) and Ulsan-based HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE).
The construction of the two dual-fuel capacity gas carriers is currently being handled by the Ulsan-basedHyundai Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering at its Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Singapore.
Valued at $71 million each, the two LPG carriers are expected to be delivered between December 2025 and early 2026 as part of the energy conglomerate’s strategic investments to foster safe, reliable, and sustainable access to LPG widely regarded as a cleaner source of energy for a larger population.
Sahara Group, through its subsidiary Sahara Energy, has a stake in four vessels which are registered under West Africa Gas, also known as West Africa LPG, a joint venture between Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) and Ocean Bed Trading.
Ocean Bed Trading is an oil and gas trading company and is a subsidiary of Sahara Energy. The latter holds 40 percent stakes in the joint outfit.
West Africa Gas currently owns four HMD-built LPG carriers: the 38,148-cbm Africa Gas and Sahara Gas (both built in 2017) and the 2022-built 23,000-cbm Sapet Gas and Barumk Gas.
During the delivery ceremony of Sapet Gas and Barumk Gas at HMD in May last year, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, disclosed that the joint venture planned to acquire about 10 oil and gas vessels over the next decade.
Also speaking at the event, Executive Director, Sahara Group, Temitope Shonubi said Sahara Group was making remarkable progress in the construction of over 120,000 metric tonnes of storage facilities in 11 African countries, including Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, and Zambia, among others.
The investment in growing its LNG fleet is believed to be part of the Nigerian integrated energy conglomerate’s strategy to take advantage of the expanding domestic gas supply market in Nigeria in the wake of the recent policy decision by the Federal Government to remove subsidy from the fuel pricing template in the country.
The new policy announced by the new Tinubu administration in May triggered a 195 percent hike in the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, from N197 to per litre to over N540 per litre across the country.
Consequently, the hike has raised the cost petrol beyond the average Nigerian fuel consumers, triggering the agitation for affordable alternatives to petrol.
With LPG, also known as domestic gas, being identified as the clear alternative as a result of comparative low price and availability in abundance, investors have since begun massive investments in gas supply infrastructures to take advantage of the emerging market.
Also, huge interests by energy industry players are now focused on the development of compressed natural gas (CNG) facilities across the country to provide a cheaper alternative to petrol for vehicle owners.
Nigeria’s aspiration is to raise LPG consumption capacity to about five million tonnes per year by 2025.
