The Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) 2026 will take place in Abu Dhabi from Nov. 2 to 5, 2026, at the ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi.
The event will seek to mobilise investment in resilient and intelligent energy systems, with ministers, CEOs and senior leaders from the energy, technology, finance and industrial sectors confirmed to participate.
ADIPEC will bring together the global energy industry in Abu Dhabi as the world faces rising energy demand, geopolitical volatility, infrastructure constraints and rapid growth in artificial intelligence (AI), highlighting the importance of energy security to economic stability and growth.
Billed as the world’s largest energy conference and exhibition, ADIPEC 2026 will bring together policymakers, producers, investors, technology leaders and customers to translate shared priorities into practical action, drawing on the UAE’s position as an energy supplier, investment partner and global hub for technology and industry.
Across its conferences and exhibition, participants will seek to align priorities, advance commercial partnerships and accelerate projects and solutions aimed at supporting secure, reliable and affordable energy supplies and long-term economic growth.
Early confirmed speakers include UAE Energy and Infrastructure Minister Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei; Egyptian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Karim Badawi; Jordanian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Saleh Kharabsheh; Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo; Shell CEO Wael Sawan; TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne; bp CEO Meg O’Neill; Oxy President and CEO Richard Jackson; Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi; Siemens Energy President and CEO Christian Bruch; Zhenhua Oil Chairman Wang Yuetao; SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch; Baker Hughes Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Simonelli; YPF Chairman and CEO Horacio Marín; World Energy Council Secretary General and CEO Angela Wilkinson; Dangote Group President and CEO Aliko Dangote; Hunt Energy Holdings Chairman and CEO Hunter Hunt; KBR Chair, President and CEO Stuart Bradie; Inclusive Brains CEO and co-founder Olivier Oullier; and Japan Cooperation Center for Petroleum and Sustainable Energy CEO Haruhiko Ando.
Abdulmunim Al Kindy, chairman of ADIPEC 2026, said recent volatility had highlighted the link between energy security and economic stability.
“As demand rises and AI transforms both the energy sector and the economies it powers, the world must invest ahead of demand, diversify supply and strengthen the infrastructure, technology and capabilities that keep energy moving,” he said.
“ADIPEC 2026 will focus on what the next energy system needs most: growth, reliability, intelligence and delivery. By bringing together policy, capital, technology and industry in Abu Dhabi, we will help advance the investments, projects and partnerships required to provide more energy, more securely and affordably, while supporting global economic growth.”
For 2026, ADIPEC’s Strategic Conference has been redesigned around forces reshaping global energy, including rising demand and energy security, infrastructure, investment, AI, industrial execution and workforce capability.
Across 11 programmes and more than 380 sessions, ministers, CEOs, investors, policymakers and technology leaders will examine the decisions, partnerships and capital needed to expand energy supply, accelerate infrastructure development and strengthen long-term system performance.
New Strategic Conference programmes include Energy Security & Resilience; Policy, Regulation & Governance; Upstream; Clean Power, Molecules & Carbon Management; Grids, Infrastructure & Industrial Execution; and Workforce & Skills.
Existing programmes have also been updated to reflect priorities shaping the next phase of the energy sector, including AI, Digital & Technology Innovation and Downstream, Chemicals & Industrial Value Chains.
The 11 Strategic Conference programmes will be complemented by the Technical Conference, which includes the SPE Technical and Downstream Technical programmes. Together, they will bring engineers and technical experts from across the energy industry to focus on translating strategy into operational delivery.
Christopher Hudson, president of dmg events, the organiser of ADIPEC, said the event’s role as a platform for dialogue, collaboration and commercial engagement had become increasingly important as the global energy landscape evolved.
“Rising energy demand, supply constraints and rapid technological advancement underscore the need to bring industry leaders together to align priorities, mobilise investment and accelerate the projects and technologies required to support long-term energy security and economic growth,” he said.
“The strong early momentum behind ADIPEC 2026 reflects the industry’s recognition of both the scale of the opportunity and the urgency for action. By convening policymakers, investors, technology leaders and energy producers in Abu Dhabi, ADIPEC will help strengthen partnerships, advance innovation and support the delivery of the secure, reliable and affordable energy systems the world needs.”
The ADIPEC Exhibition will serve as a global marketplace connecting companies with customers, investors and partners. In 2025, the event generated $53 billion in value through more than 49,000 deals, according to the organisers.
More than 2,250 companies have already confirmed their participation, including 54 national oil companies, international oil companies, national energy companies and international energy companies, across 16 halls and 30 country pavilions, the organisers said.
Four specialised zones will showcase market-ready technologies and solutions to customers, investors and partners, with the aim of helping move projects from development to execution.
French oil and gas company TotalEnergies has signed a partnership agreement with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a unit of BlackRock, involving $1.8 billion in capital to develop its oil and gas infrastructure assets in several African countries.
Under the agreement, TotalEnergies will pay GIP a throughput-based tariff for a period of up to 15 years.
“We are pleased to strengthen our relationship with GIP through this infrastructure agreement, which crystallises the value of some of our midstream infrastructure assets in Africa,” TotalEnergies Chief Financial Officer Jean-Pierre Sbraire said.
The General Transport, Chemical and Petroleum Workers Union (GTPCWU) and the Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy (IERPP) have raised concerns over Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Bill, 2026, warning that its passage in its current form could weaken state-owned BOST Energies Limited.
The two groups said the bill would redirect the BOST margin, which they said was critical for maintaining and expanding petroleum infrastructure. They also said the bill did not expressly provide for strategic storage depots to be managed by BOST Energies on behalf of the government.
GTPCWU raised its concerns in a letter to the chairperson of Parliament’s Energy Committee, seen by Energy News Africa, while IERPP outlined its concerns at a news conference on Wednesday addressed by its Executive Director, Professor Isaac Boadi.
In the letter signed by GTPCWU General Secretary Fuseini Iddrisu, the union said the bill would allow the regulator to license multiple depot network operators whenever it deemed appropriate, replacing the current arrangement of a single licensed operator.
GTPCWU said previous NPA legislation expressly recognised the importance of strategic petroleum infrastructure by requiring the minister to designate a network of strategic storage depots to be managed by BOST Energies, or another body, on behalf of the government.
“That provision was not a technicality; it was Parliament’s clear and deliberate acknowledgment that BOST is the principal institution entrusted with safeguarding Ghana’s strategic petroleum reserves and national fuel security,” the union said.
The union described the omission as a serious institutional gap, warning that leaving it uncorrected could create legal uncertainty over responsibility for the country’s strategic reserves, undermine investor confidence and put jobs, technical expertise and institutional knowledge at risk.
GTPCWU urged Parliament to amend the bill before its passage to expressly recognise BOST Energies as the institution responsible for managing Ghana’s strategic petroleum reserves on behalf of the government.
It also called for the BOST margin to be preserved for the operation, maintenance, rehabilitation and expansion of BOST’s strategic petroleum infrastructure, saying the company should retain adequate and sustainable resources to carry out its strategic role.
IERPP said it was not opposed to strong regulation of Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector and that no state institution should be exempt from proper oversight. Its concern, it said, was that the bill could make BOST Energies responsible for national fuel security while removing some of the operational and financial tools needed to fulfill that role.
The institute questioned how BOST Energies could remain financially sustainable if competing depots were licensed and commercially attractive business was drawn away from its network while it continued to bear the cost of maintaining infrastructure on which the country relies.
“This is not a technical or bureaucratic quibble; it goes to the heart of national fuel security and the protection of a public asset,” IERPP said.
The institute said Ghana should avoid a situation in which private operators benefit from profitable parts of the petroleum logistics chain while BOST Energies carries the cost of national obligations with fewer resources to meet them.
IERPP called for the withdrawal and review of the NPA Bill, 2026, to allow for comprehensive stakeholder consultations and redrafting, citing risks to BOST Energies’ operational independence, financial sustainability and ability to safeguard Ghana’s strategic fuel security.
It also called for BOST Energies to remain the principal institution responsible for managing the country’s strategic reserves, with clear authority over procurement, storage, rotation, release and replenishment.
The institute further called for dedicated and reliable funding for strategic reserves and infrastructure, saying BOST’s commercial resources should not be unnecessarily tied up financing a national security obligation.
It said the BOST margin should be appropriately repurposed to support strategic reserves and critical infrastructure, including the development and expansion of new depots.
Two people were killed and 22 others were receiving treatment after a petroleum tanker exploded along the Eldoret-Turbo Road near Paul Boit Secondary School on Thursday night, hospital officials said.
The two were suspected to have died while attempting to collect fuel from the tanker after it was involved in an accident.
Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) Chief Executive Officer Philip Kirwa said on Friday that 22 survivors had been admitted following the explosion.
Seven of the victims were in critical condition after suffering burns covering between 40% and 50% of their bodies and were expected to require intensive care, Kirwa said.
Three patients who were unable to breathe on their own had been intubated, while four others who were breathing independently were being closely monitored, he said.
The hospital expected more victims to be brought in as emergency response efforts continued.
The Kenya Red Cross said it had deployed teams to the scene and was responding in coordination with the Kenya Police Service and firefighters.
“Kenya Red Cross is on the ground responding in collaboration with Kenya Police and firefighters,” the organisation said in a post on X at about 10:30 p.m. on Thursday.
The fire was contained by about 4 a.m. on Friday following a multi-agency response, according to reports.
The exact cause of the fire remained unclear, while the final number of casualties had yet to be established.
Ghana’s state-owned strategic fuel stockholding company, BOSTenergies Limited, said on Thursday that a reduction in diesel and gasoline exports to Burkina Faso and Mali was due to refurbishment work at its northern depot, rather than an imminent fuel shortage in Ghana.
The company said the Bolgatanga depot, a key gateway for fuel supplies to the Sahel, was nearing completion of a revamp that had temporarily disrupted its normal distribution route to regional markets.
“BOSTenergies wishes to correct an inaccurate implication carried by the published report that the reduction in regional export volumes reflects an imminent fuel shortage in Ghana, warranting the rationing of available supply to Burkina Faso and Mali to safeguard local supply security,” the company said in a statement.
“There is no imminent fuel shortage in Ghana, and no cutting of supply has been implemented on this or any other basis,” it added.
The statement clarified comments made by Managing Director Afetsi Awoonor in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Gastech conference in Bangkok, Thailand, which indicated that reduced exports were partly aimed at safeguarding domestic supply.
BOSTenergies said no political, security or diplomatic considerations played a role in the decision.
Under normal operating conditions, the company transports fuel for regional export through an integrated network of pipelines and barges linking its depots from southern Ghana to the north.
The route enables BOSTenergies to supply regional markets at competitive prices while meeting its required profit margins, it said.
While the Bolgatanga depot is being refurbished, the company has maintained regional supplies by transporting fuel by bulk road vehicles from its coastal depot in Tema, it said.
“Full regional supply capacity will be restored on completion of the Bolgatanga depot revamp,” BOSTenergies said.
BOSTenergies supplied about half of the 80,000 metric tons of fuel requested by Burkina Faso in July and August, Awoonor told Reuters on Wednesday.
During the same period, the company exported 10,000 metric tons of fuel to Mali, although the country had requested an additional 40,000 tons for August and September, he said.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger rely heavily on fuel imports from coastal West African countries, including Ghana and Ivory Coast.
In Ghana, where BOSTenergies has about a 30% share of the fuel market, diesel consumption continues to rise as economic activity expands, Awoonor said.
“Supply is available, but it’s at a high cost,” he said, adding that a sharp increase in demand had strained supplies and complicated efforts to keep domestic fuel prices stable.
Diesel accounts for about two-thirds of BOSTenergies’ supplies, Awoonor said.
Ghana’s fuel prices rose earlier this year amid global supply concerns but have since eased, helped by a stronger currency and government intervention.
BOSTenergies is also planning to expand its LPG infrastructure. Awoonor said the company plans to build an LPG terminal in the industrial city of Tema by the fourth quarter of next year and begin importing the cooking fuel.
The company also plans to build an LPG storage facility in Kumasi, Ghana’s second-largest city, to support distribution, he said.
BOSTenergies plans to build terminals at six locations in phases, Awoonor added.
AMEA Power, one of the fastest-growing renewable energy firms, has announced that its 24 MWp Ituka Solar PV Project in Uganda has reached Commercial Operations Date (COD), marking a major milestone for the company and Uganda’s renewable energy sector.
The project, located in Uleppi, Madi Okollo District, in Uganda’s West Nile region, is the first solar independent power producer (IPP) project in the region and the largest installed-capacity IPP in West Nile.
The milestone follows the successful energisation of the project’s 25 MVA, 132/33 kV substation in July 2026, which enabled the completion of reliability and performance tests and the commencement of power delivery to the national grid through the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL), the offtaker.
The solar PV project is being implemented by Ituka West Nile Uganda Limited, a project company registered in Uganda and fully owned by AMEA Power.
The 24 MWp solar power plant is expected to generate approximately 53,940 MWh of clean energy annually, helping to strengthen grid reliability while supporting the growing electricity needs and industrialisation ambitions of Uganda’s West Nile region.
The project is also expected to provide power to more than 192,640 households and offset about 26,600 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
Hussain Al Nowais, Chairman of AMEA Power, said: “The successful commercial operation of the 24 MWp solar PV plant is an important milestone for AMEA Power and for Uganda’s energy sector. As the first solar IPP in the West Nile region, this project demonstrates the important role that renewable energy can play in supporting economic development and strengthening energy infrastructure. We are proud to contribute to Uganda’s clean energy ambitions and to support the continued development of the West Nile region.”
The $27 million project was financed through a mix of debt and equity from AMEA Power and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF).
The commissioning of the solar power plant marks AMEA Power’s first operational asset in Uganda and further strengthens the company’s growing renewable energy portfolio across East Africa.
AMEA Power remains committed to supporting Uganda’s energy transition and socioeconomic development through long-term investments in sustainable infrastructure.
Kenyan police have arrested four suspects in Kitui town on suspicion of vandalising transformers belonging to Kenya Power, the utility company said.
The suspects, identified as Douglas Kyalo Mbuvi, Joseph Mulei Musovo, Benson Muchiri Kaburia and Peter Musyimi Keli, were arrested by Kenya Power’s security team in collaboration with officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Kitui on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026.
The four were travelling in a vehicle with concealed number plates when security officers ordered them to stop, Kenya Power said in a statement posted on Facebook.
“Upon searching the vehicle, the security officers found one drum of copper winding and other items including assorted spanners, hacksaw, panga, hammer, among others,” the company said.
The suspects led security officers to Kamuungu Primary School, where they allegedly vandalised a 35 kVA transformer, and to Kangweni village, where they allegedly vandalised 200 kVA and 100 kVA transformers, Kenya Power said.
The suspects and the vehicle were detained at a police station in Kitui, the company said.
Ghanaian motorists could be paying as much as GH¢28 ($2.42) per litre for diesel if the government had not intervened to cushion consumers from rising international petroleum prices, the chief executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, said.
Tamakloe said the government’s decision to remove GH¢2 per litre in regulatory margins on diesel had prevented the full increase in international prices from being passed on to consumers.
“Without the intervention from government, a litre of diesel should be selling within the region of GH¢28 per litre,” Tamakloe said in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM.
He said the intervention had helped keep diesel prices below what they would otherwise have been, as international diesel prices had risen sharply since February 2026.
“A metric tonne of diesel, which used to cost $794 as of February 2026, today is costing $1,519 per tonne. That’s almost twice the amount,” he said.
Tamakloe said the government had absorbed part of the increase instead of allowing the full cost to be reflected at the pump.
He estimated that government interventions to cushion consumers from rising petroleum prices had so far amounted to nearly GH¢1 billion.
“We have done close to GH¢1 billion by way of intervention to push the impact, which otherwise would have come directly to the consumers of petroleum products,” he said.
He said the GH¢2 per litre intervention meant that motorists buying 10 litres of diesel were effectively receiving GH¢20 in government support.
“Today, if you go out to the pump and buy 10 litres of diesel, what it means is that the Government of Ghana is directly putting 20 Ghana cedis in your pockets,” he said.
Tamakloe’s comments come amid renewed pressure for higher transport fares, with transport unions citing rising fuel costs among the reasons for proposed increases.
He said the government’s intervention should be taken into account when assessing the impact of fuel prices on the operating costs of private transport operators.
The government has maintained a GH¢2-per-litre intervention on diesel as part of measures to cushion consumers from rising petroleum prices.
Tamakloe said the international petroleum market remained volatile, meaning further movements in global prices could continue to affect Ghana’s domestic fuel market.
The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD), Patrick Kwaku Ofori, has warned that the government’s diesel subsidy is unsustainable and could come at the expense of investment in the country’s energy infrastructure.
The government announced the removal of some regulatory margins on petroleum products as part of measures to cushion motorists from rising pump prices following the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
The subsidy was introduced in April, with consumers currently receiving a subsidy of 2 Ghanaian cedis per litre of diesel.
Speaking on Accra-based TV3, Ofori said the subsidies were affecting the ability of state agencies to expand and invest in modern refining facilities.
He said funds spent on the diesel subsidy during the period under review could instead have been used to procure more than 200 buses for busy routes, including Accra-Kasoa, Mamponteng, Pankrono and Kejetia, while subsidised fuel supplied through GOIL could have been used to support vulnerable consumers.
“For how long will you continue? It’s going to be tighter as it continues at the expense of infrastructure that will help move products through the BRV system to all parts of the country,” he said.
Ofori said government entities such as the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) may not be able to publicly raise concerns about the policy, but warned that its effects could eventually be seen in fuel quality if marketers and quality assurance providers were not paid promptly for their services.
He also questioned how the government was financing the subsidy and whether it intended to borrow against the balance sheets of state-owned entities to sustain BOST and other state agencies.
Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) has completed the construction and final integration of a 4-km, 161-kV transmission line connecting a solar project in Yendi in northern Ghana to the Tamale-Yendi transmission network, the company said.
Yendi is home to Bui Power Authority’s 50-megawatt solar farm, which is expected to be commissioned soon.
GRIDCo said the project was executed entirely by its technical teams, making it the longest transmission line project it has completed in-house to date.
The work included tower erection, line stringing, testing, commissioning and energisation of the line.
GRIDCo’s teams also integrated a 66-MVA transformer into the transmission system as part of the project, drawing on expertise from several technical units.
The company said the project demonstrated its technical capacity and would strengthen the national grid’s ability to integrate renewable energy.
The Yendi solar transmission link will connect the project to Ghana’s transmission network and support the expansion of renewable power generation.
Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, has sought the intervention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to help tackle the growing problem of vandalism and energy theft in the power sector.
Tegbe made the request on Tuesday when he led a delegation from the ministry on a courtesy visit to the EFCC’s headquarters in Abuja.
Vandalism and energy theft are taking a heavy toll on the power sector and resulting in the loss of billions of naira annually, Tegbe said.
He said the ministry lacked the statutory powers to prosecute offenders involved in vandalism and energy theft, making collaboration with the EFCC necessary to address the problem.
“We sought the EFCC’s immediate support in prosecuting power infrastructure vandalism and persistent energy theft offenders, including the recovery of outstanding revenue,” Tegbe said in a post on Facebook.
The meeting also discussed the possible use of some recovered funds from relevant contractor cases to address metering needs for the military, subject to the necessary approvals and processes, he said.
Tegbe said the two sides had agreed to establish an EFCC-Ministry of Power Technical Working Group, alongside stronger fraud controls and monitoring of power-sector projects.
He also thanked the EFCC for its continued support, including its intervention in resolving contractor-related issues concerning the Kudenda Power Plant in Kaduna State.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede described vandalism and energy theft as forms of revenue fraud and economic sabotage.
He said the commission had recorded more than 1 trillion naira in cash recoveries, more than 10,000 convictions and the recovery of more than 10,000 non-cash assets over the past 34 months.
Olukoyede pledged to work with the ministry to conduct fraud-risk assessments and strengthen controls on all its projects.
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) on Tuesday condemned the illegal closure of the main Al-Hamada-Al-Zawiyah oil pipeline by a group of guards, saying the action had halted production and operations at several oil fields.
The closure caused a sudden increase in pressure on production lines at the Al-Tahara field, resulting in a complete halt to production and operations at the Al-Hamada (NC8) and Al-Tahara (NC4) fields, as well as the NC5 station, the NOC said in a statement.
The corporation said the closure had caused significant damage to oilfield operations and could further deepen the crisis facing Libya’s oil sector amid the repercussions of the global energy crisis.
The NOC also rejected threats to shut the field north of Al-Hamada operated by Nafusa Oil Company, as well as any other fields or wells, over strikes or other demands.
It urged those behind the closures to use legal channels to pursue their demands and called on state authorities to take action to resolve the crisis.
The NOC said it could declare force majeure if the pipeline valve remained closed or if other fields were subjected to forced shutdowns.
“The closure of oil fields and the halt of production operations at this sensitive timing, which is witnessing a rise in crude oil prices, is a severe blow to the national economy,” the NOC said.
The corporation appealed to members of the oil facilities security apparatus involved in the protests to exercise restraint and pursue their demands through legal means.
The NOC warned that prolonged disruptions to oil production could damage Libya’s reputation as a reliable global energy supplier and threaten the government’s ability to pay public-sector salaries, with oil revenues serving as the country’s main source of state income.
Saudi Aramco has canceled or delayed crude deliveries to European refiners after the shutdown of the kingdom’s East-West pipeline cut into one of its remaining routes around the Strait of Hormuz.
At least three European refiners have had late-September cargoes canceled or pushed as far out as November, according to market sources cited by Argus.
Two more expect notices covering September supplies.
The 7-million-bpd East-West pipeline has been offline since a September 10 attack.
The pipeline carries crude from eastern Saudi oil fields to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, bypassing Hormuz.
One market source told Argus that every Saudi cargo scheduled for the final 10 days of September could be at risk.
The same source estimated that Yanbu had roughly five days of crude inventories remaining.
Argus could not independently confirm that estimate, and Aramco declined to comment.
In August, Bloomberg had reported that Aramco would supply full contractual crude volumes to at least three European refiners for September.
But no Saudi crude has departed Yanbu since September 11, according to Vortexa data cited by Argus.
Saudi exports from Egypt’s Sidi Kerir terminal averaged about 1.95 million bpd during the first two weeks of September. Arrivals at Ain Sukhna averaged 1.40 million bpd.
Crude exported through Yanbu can move to Egypt’s Ain Sukhna terminal and across the 2.5-million-bpd SUMED pipeline to Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean.
Poland’s Orlen is already buying replacements.
Orlen purchased North Sea grades including Grane, Johan Sverdrup and Johan Castberg through spot tenders and sought offers for U.S. WTI Midland and Kazakhstan’s CPC Blend, traders told Reuters.
At least four September tanker fixtures from Sidi Kerir to Gdansk have failed.
Aramco supplies roughly 40% of the crude processed by Orlen, which operates refineries in Poland, Lithuania and the Czech Republic.
Orlen said its refineries continue receiving feedstock.
The East-West line had become one of Saudi Arabia’s most important alternatives to constrained Persian Gulf exports. Its shutdown is now reaching European term customers in the form of missing barrels.
South African integrated energy company Sasol and Antarctic expedition operator White Desert on Tuesday announced a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) partnership, marking a step towards the development of lower-carbon fuels for aviation in South Africa.
The agreement, announced at the Africa Green Hydrogen Summit, will see Sasol supply its first commercial volumes of SAF to White Desert for its Cape Town-to-Antarctica expeditions.
The partnership brings together Sasol’s technical expertise and White Desert’s aviation fuel demand as the companies seek to develop lower-carbon solutions for aviation, they said.
The agreement follows the recent ISCC+ sustainability certification of Natref, Sasol’s refinery in South Africa, which the company said would support the production and supply of sustainable fuels.
Sasol and White Desert leaders at the launch of a landmark Sustainable Aviation Fuel partnership.
Dr Sarushen Pillay, Sasol’s executive vice president for business building, strategy and technology, said the partnership demonstrated South Africa’s ability to develop commercial applications for lower-carbon fuels.
“Through our partnership with White Desert, we are demonstrating how sustainable fuels can move from ambition to commercial reality,” Pillay said.
The SAF supplied under the agreement is produced from sustainable bio-feedstocks and could provide a pathway towards future e-fuels produced using green hydrogen, Sasol said.
The company said such value chains could create industrial opportunities while supporting energy security, competitiveness and efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
White Desert, which operates luxury Antarctic expeditions from Cape Town, will use the SAF for flights between South Africa and Antarctica.
“It is incredible to now be able to source sustainable fuel in South Africa, made locally and with real carbon emission reductions. We are excited to be using this for our flights to Antarctica and being at the forefront of getting to net zero,” Patrick Woodhead, chief executive and founder of White Desert.
Speaking about Sasol’s broader SAF strategy, Pillay said the transition to lower-carbon aviation fuels would require the conversion of existing industrial infrastructure.
“We do not decarbonise aviation by abandoning existing industrial assets, but by transforming them. South Africa has the fuels infrastructure, technical capability and export relationships needed to participate meaningfully in this market,” he said.
“Bio-SAF is the first proof point of that conversion, and a bridge to the e-fuels economy that follows.”
“This is an exciting milestone for South Africa, for aviation and for the future of sustainable fuels,” Pillay said.
The company said the project demonstrated its technical capacity and would strengthen the national grid’s ability to integrate renewable energy.
The Yendi solar transmission link will connect the project to Ghana’s transmission network and support the expansion of renewable power generation.
The meeting also discussed the possible use of some recovered funds from relevant contractor cases to address metering needs for the military, subject to the necessary approvals and processes, he said.
Tegbe said the two sides had agreed to establish an EFCC-Ministry of Power Technical Working Group, alongside stronger fraud controls and monitoring of power-sector projects.
He also thanked the EFCC for its continued support, including its intervention in resolving contractor-related issues concerning the Kudenda Power Plant in Kaduna State.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede described vandalism and energy theft as forms of revenue fraud and economic sabotage.
He said the commission had recorded more than 1 trillion naira in cash recoveries, more than 10,000 convictions and the recovery of more than 10,000 non-cash assets over the past 34 months.
Olukoyede pledged to work with the ministry to conduct fraud-risk assessments and strengthen controls on all its projects. 
