| Top energy operators in Nigeria rely on Hobark international for qualified workers |
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il and gas may be a capital intensive business, with project costs frequently stretching into billions of pounds, but it is the people on the ground who make things happen.
Staffing agency Hobark International, based in Port Harcourt, has carved out a niche for itself deploying engineers of all kinds and levels to top energy firms active in Nigeria and elsewhere.
The firm currently has representative offices in the UK and the United States, as well as fellow OPEC member Venezuela. It also provides petroleum engineering and well service expertise to specific upstream projects, working with most of the well-known operators in the Nigerian sector.
Managing Director, Obioha Okoroafor, says the company has played a major role in raising the bar on standards among Nigerian oil workers. “If you look at the human resources in Nigeria, the potential is simply enormous.”
One of the determining factors in attracting Nigerian talent back to the country, however, is the ability to offer a competitive salary, often in excess of that available elsewhere. This is just part of the deal needed to raise quality at home, Mr Okoroafor believes. “We have a lot of Nigerians outside and inside the country who are very qualified and could fill very senior positions. Some might not be very technically developed at the beginning but our goal is to sharpen them and to train them to the highest international standards.”
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It is this commitment to standards that has helped to establish Hobark in such a highly competitive sector since its formation back in 1998. The company now has a number of partnerships in place with international players to bring in expatriate staff where necessary.
“The whole idea of international partners is to fill up the gaps within our organisation,” says Mr Okoroafor. “For Hobark to be able to satisfy our operators’ needs, we need to bring in expatriates where we are not able to get Nigerians.”
Nonetheless, the focus is always on developing home-grown talent from Nigeria’s vast pool of citizens. Even where foreign expertise is brought in, Nigerian workers are required to shadow in order to gain vital experience. Mr Okoroafor says the company’s aim is to gradually replace a large percentage of the people brought in from outside with well-qualified Nigerians, a vision shared by the government in Abuja.
When foreign staff are brought in they are shadowed by Nigerians
“I would like to see Hobark expand to a level where we develop Nigerians to replace most of the expatriates working in our oil and gas industry,” he says. “We might not get 100 per cent of that, but if we can get Nigerians to occupy 60-70 per cent, that would be excellent.”
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