Heston to set up in Tanzania

Posted on : Thursday, 24th September 2015

 Heston, a British oil services company is setting up shop in Tanzania and use the country as a hub to tap into the growing hydrocarbons sector in the Eastern African region.  writes JOSEPH BURITE

Speaking to the East African Business Week at an oil and gas exhibition in Dar es Salaam recently.

David Edwards, the regional operations manager for Middle East and Africa said the company will apply a model that helped it achieve success in Bahrain and other countries in the Middle East.

“We want to get in early and grow with the region. Our strategy looks at the long term and setting up early is the reason for our success in the Middle East,” he said.

The company is targeting operations in Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar and Mozambique, Edwards said. “We seek to develop strong local content and build long term relationships with clients looking at 10-20 years,” he said.

Edwards, who along with Rich Muncaster, the operations manager Middle East and Africa were in the country to conduct a due diligence said the company’s board will soon make a decision on how much to invest.

“We earmarked East Africa two years ago and it is now an important part of our strategy,” Muncaster said.

He said: “The potential is huge and we have had a good first impression.”

Heston counts Eni, Saipem, Dyncorp, Chevron, Adnoc, Amec, URS, Fendley and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation among oil majors it serves.

The Heston Group, which is based on the Isle of Man,  was formed more than 25 years ago, primarily to provide human resource solutions to the hydrocarbon industry throughout the Middle East.

Whilst this has remained the core focus of the group for which it has attained the ISO 9001: 2008 accreditation, the company has naturally evolved into a broad resource solutions provider throughout the Middle East, United States of America, Africa, Asia and Europe.