MS Industrial Services’ (MSIS) Group, has expanded its international presence with the establishment of a subsidiary in Ghana.

MSIS has established a strategic partnership with Research Development and Financial Consultants (RDFC) one of Ghana’s premier business development firms – which has three decades of experience in assisting companies with market entry support services, regulatory and management consultancy services. RDFC is committed to supporting MSIS with strategic business development services to assist MSIS in expanding into West Africa and other African countries.

The group has formed MSIS West Africa – which will operate out of Sekondi-Takoradi, in Ghana – to capitalise on the developing oil and gas industry in the region. In 2007 Ghana discovered crude oil in commercial size, with estimates of 800 million barrels of oil, with significant quantities of associated natural gas within the Jubilee field.

The subsidiary will be able to offer the full range of MSIS’ specialist services and equipment, after the group identified that establishing a hub in the country would enable it to best deliver its services to the region. RDFC will assist in aligning MSIS services to key operators and sub-contractors in the region.

The forming of MSIS West Africa – which is 95% owned by MSIS and 5% owned by RDFC –comes on the back of MSIS securing its first major contract in the country earlier this year.

MSIS was awarded a two-year contract – worth around £1.5million – by international oil and gas service company, TETRA Technologies (TETRA) to provide pit cleaning equipment and personnel to support the company’s Ghana operations.

In a move designed to capitalise on the formation of the new West Africa operation, MSIS has announced that its current UK Sales Manager, Gordon Bennett, has been installed as Business Development Manager for Europe and Africa. Mr Bennett will perform a key role in developing the group’s West Africa operations in the period ahead.

MSIS’ Chairman, Chris Lloyd, commented: “We’ve been determined to establish an MSIS presence in West Africa to enhance our chances of harnessing opportunities in the region. The forming of MSIS West Africa provides us with the base and foundation from which we can capitalise on the major opportunities which are available in the area.

“Ghana offers a stable environment with excellent facilities and links to nearby countries such as Nigeria and the Ivory Coast which feature existing oil and gas operations as well as being a good communications facility for the wider African market. We will be actively looking for local partners with whom we can offer the widest range of onshore and offshore environmental services.

“Another key driver in our decision to establish a base in Ghana is the FPSO market in West Africa, which is of tremendous interest to MSIS as our specialist Transfer Systems are specifically designed to provide the highest quality performance in tank cleaning onboard those installations.

“MSIS has previously provided project support work for FPSO's in the region but we believe that this is the right time to build on our success by establishing a full time presence.”

RDFC’s Managing Director, Kwame Acquah, commented: “RDFC welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with Gordon Bennett and the entire MSIS team to build a long lasting business relationship rooted in transparency, integrity and results - with MSIS we are confident that we will deliver and expand beyond West Africa for the foreseeable future.”

Tags: MS Industrial Services’ (MSIS) Group