Liberia’s state-owned oil company agreed with Nigerian logistics firm LADOL to develop a shorebase in the port city of Buchanan, seeking to retain more oilfield jobs and spending at home as the country prepares for increased offshore drilling.
The National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) and Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base signed a Joint Development Agreement for the facility in Grand Bassa County, according to a statement issued Sunday in London.
The project is intended to provide logistics, marine access, materials and other services needed to support offshore oil and gas operations.
Liberia’s previous drilling campaign exposed a gap in the country’s oilfield-services infrastructure, with companies relying on neighboring Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal for services including logistics, waste disposal, supply-chain management and specialized technical support. That meant jobs and economic activity generated by drilling were largely captured outside Liberia.
The Buchanan shorebase is designed to address that shortfall by giving international oil companies a domestic base from which to support offshore operations.
“We are determined to correct that narrative as we prepare for our next set of drilling programs,” NOCAL President and Chief Executive Officer Fabian M. Lai said in the statement.
The project comes as Liberia prepares for accelerated exploration under petroleum agreements already signed by the government, with additional concessions expected in the future.
A domestic oilfield-services hub could allow more contracts to be awarded to Liberian companies and create demand for local transportation, engineering, construction, maintenance and environmental services.
Feasibility Study
LADOL will serve as NOCAL’s technical lead partner for the project and will help fund and conduct a feasibility study, coordinate engineering design, and support the construction and operation of the facility.
The study is expected to begin within 45 days and take six months. It will assess land requirements, waterfront and marine access, utilities, commercial viability and operating requirements, as well as geotechnical and topographical conditions. Environmental and social impact assessment work will also be scoped.
NOCAL and LADOL are expected to jointly develop, operate and maintain the shorebase, with the companies establishing a joint steering committee to oversee the project and working toward definitive agreements.
LADOL operates a major offshore logistics facility in Lagos and has positioned the Buchanan project as part of its effort to expand local-content development in West Africa.
“This agreement is a testament to our confidence in Liberia’s oil and gas potential,” LADOL Executive Chairman Sir Oladipo Ladi Jadesimi said.
For NOCAL, the project represents an attempt to build the infrastructure needed to capture a greater share of the economic benefits from offshore drilling before activity increases.
“Our goal is to ensure that the jobs, the contracts, the training, and the ancillary services that support our petroleum operations are performed by Liberian companies,” Lai said.
