World Report

Ernest Azudialu
President and CEO of Nestoil

‘We hope to develop these capacities with foreign partners’

lready one of the leading indigenous oil service groups in the country, Nestoil is preparing to get involved in major engineering projects in Nigeria’s new deepwater fields.

Like most indigenous firms, Nestoil started small, beginning in petroleum product marketing in 1991. Within five years it had developed into a full oil services company delivering services to all sectors of the oil and gas industries.
“We started off as an oil service company with two clear areas in mind: the environmental management aspect of oil companies, as well as the areas of civil and mechanical engineering,” recalls Ernest Azudialu, the group’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Operating in these areas, we were getting projects in almost every part of the industry.”

Since then Nestoil has built a strong track record of key projects for leading players in the industry, including both state-owned companies and joint venture operators such as Shell, MPN, Chevron, Agip and Texaco. Currently, the company is engaged on 15 projects at various stages from commission to near completion.

Nestoil has diversified into a variety of different areas in the industry. Its areas of expertise range from civil and structural engineering, mechanical and electrical projects to chemical and production engineering, geotechnical work and pipeline engineering. It has its own jetties and fabrication facilities and marine equipment.

It supplies a wide range of technical equipment for oil field operations, refineries and petrochemical plants, as well as spare parts, chemicals and couplings. Recently it made the move into the upstream, by acquiring a 10 per cent share in an oil block through the local content vehicle.

www.nestoilgroup.com

Mr Azudialu says Nestoil is now trying to reduce its involvement in civil projects and develop further into mechanical engineering projects.

“We have been involved in a lot of flow station refurbishments for some of the leading companies in the industry, and in the laying of pipelines for multinational companies and maintenance of their storage facilities as well. We have been involved in some environmental monitoring facilities, especially for Shell; we built one of their plants in Warri, called Jebba Treatment Facilities.”

Now the company is seeking partners interested in getting involved in some of the major fabrication projects coming up in Nigeria. “We are looking at bigger projects where fabrication will involve special expertise.

“These days the oil business is going offshore where you require serious fabrications, vessels and skills. That requires a level of engineering experience you can only get from the expatriate companies. We are hoping to partner with companies that are interested in developing these capacities along with us.”

As a well-established indigenous company, one of the advantages that Nestoil is able to offer partners is its knowledge of the community. “Nestoil is in a good position for companies that are interested in partnering with a Nigerian company because we know the business as we have been in it for many years.

Well respected in the local industry, Nestoil is looking to expand its activities into new areas.

“Depending on the project, we can expand further and look for new areas of development, but what we can offer now is that we are on-ground, well respected in the local industry and have done some of these things before with foreign companies as partners. ”