Can you provide us with a brief overview of the services that Menergy International offers to the oil and gas sector?

Menergy International is an oilfield services company that was established in 1989. Initially, we started as a staffing agency, providing oil and gas companies with the personnel they required. Today, we offer a wide range of services including travel support, logistics support, and equipment rental capabilities. Human resourcing remains at the core of our business, but we are always interested in diversifying the range of services that we offer.

What are the major challenges that the Ghanaian oil and gas sector presents, and what strategies do Menergy International employ to cope with them?

The Ghanaian petroleum sector is at an early stage of evolution, and local companies like Menergy and others do not necessarily have the capacity to capitalize on its potential. We believe that collaboration is so important; sharing expertise creates new opportunities and expands companies’ capabilities. Partnerships can also be a way around the financial demands that large-scale projects in the sector implicate. Currently, there simply is not the financial capacity to finance exploration and production projects in Ghana, so assistance is needed from further afield. The unreliable nature of oil production is another primary obstacle, as this is an industry in which downtime costs millions of dollars. To combat this issue, Menergy has emphasized broadening the range of services we offer and growing the company in a sustainable manner.

How important is the Ghanaian market to Menergy International’s business?

Ghana is of great importance to our business; the corporate headquarters are now located in Accra, and we see the country as a hub from which we can serve the African continent. Our goal is to become one of the largest logistics companies in Africa, and Ghana is the fulcrum of our strategy for expansion and growth. We view the country as an attractive place to do business, economically and politically, and it is ideally placed geographically for our operations. Additionally, many of our clients have established their regional headquarters in Ghana, so it makes sense for us to be close to them. The Ghanaian petroleum sector has great potential and has experienced exponential growth in recent years. Menergy is an ambitious company, and being located in Ghana gives us access not only to an exciting national market but also positions us to take advantage of wider regional opportunities.

What have growth figures been in 2014, and what projections do you have for 2015?

The year-end review for 2014 demonstrated that our growth had doubled between 2013 and 2014. This represents the most phenomenal growth in Menergy’s history and sees us occupying a position of strength as the Ghanaian economy continues to expand. The key to our growth over this period was the increase in oil production caused by the rapid development of the Jubilee Fields site. Becoming a nation that produces commercial quantities of oil has put Ghana in the spotlight of the petroleum industry and has seen an influx of companies arriving in the market that require the expertise and local knowledge that we offer. We have set ourselves the target of repeating this growth and doubling our business again by the end of 2015.