Nigeria commissions first wholly owned FSO vessel to boost oil output

LAGOS, October 10, 2025 – Nigeria has commissioned its first wholly owned floating storage and offloading vessel near the Bonny export terminal in a milestone for local ownership, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The 2.2-million-barrel capacity FSO Cawthorne is expected to support crude production from Oil Mining Lease 18 in the eastern Niger Delta while reducing reliance on pipelines prone to theft and vandalism.

The FSO was developed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Sahara Group, Eroton Exploration & Production and Bilton Energy. Sahara Group stated that the vessel is stationed offshore Bonny, which exports Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude.

Nigeria’s offshore assets – such as FSOs and FPSOs – have typically been either leased from or operated by international companies such as BW Offshore or MODEC.

“The vessel will help reduce carbon exposure from barge movements and enhance evacuation safety,” Asharami Energy head of commercial and planning Tosin Etomi said.

Converted from a very large crude carrier, the double-hull vessel can receive, store and offload oil to export tankers, overcoming challenges such as limited barge capacity and berthing delays.

The vessel will support the target of raising OML 18’s output to 50,000 bopd in 2025.

Nigerian National Petroleum Company is the state-owned oil corporation of Nigeria, involved in upstream, midstream and downstream operations.

Sahara Group is an energy and infrastructure conglomerate with operations across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, specialising in upstream, downstream, power and trading sectors.

In Nigeria, Sahara Group partners in upstream assets including OML 18 and operates through its subsidiary Asharami Energy, focusing on sustainable and efficient oil production.

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