Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi based oilfield services company Al Mansoori is planning to expand into CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan as the former Russian Federation countries focus on developing oilfields to increase production.

Ebrahim Al Alawi, deputy chief executive officer of Al Mansoori Petroleum Services told Gulf News that oilfield development is increasing among the former Soviet republics especially around Caspian Sea.

“There is a lot of potential in CIS countries in oil and gasfield. We’ve already done few jobs in these countries this year and we hope to expand our operations in the coming years,” said Al Alawi. He did not give details on the investment being planned by the company in both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

According to the US based Energy Information Administration, the Caspian region has the potential to export oil and natural gas to European, South Asian and East Asian markets. Last month, Kazakhstan started exporting oil from its Kashagan oilfield, considered as one of the biggest oilfields in the world.

Other countries

Apart from former Soviet republics, the company is also looking at other countries like Algeria, Southern Iraq and India to expand their operations. The company recently won a few oilfield service contracts in India in Assam state and the company is hopeful of starting their work in Algeria in the first quarter.

“We are actively pursuing work in Algeria and hoping to start our operations in the first quarter next year. We also see good market in India for our growth.”

He said there is tough competition in the UAE market due to the entry of new companies.

“New companies are entering the UAE to compete with us and that’s why we are focusing outside the UAE even though the Adnoc (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) group is trying to increase production capacity. We don’t’ see there will be significant growth in the market.”

The company has been very careful in investing in projects due to drop in oil prices, he added.

Production

“Oil companies have less revenues due to drop in oil prices and our revenue becomes less. We have to be very careful about our investments and choosing projects,” he said.

Oil prices have plummeted by more than 50 per cent since 2014 due to over production and less demand. Oil price is expected to remain low for many months even though the Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) is taking measures to stabilise oil prices by cutting production.

“We will have to wait and see how Opec measures will help in stabilising oil prices. In the past whenever Opec made an agreement not everyone complied with what they agreed.”

With a workforce of around 2,000 people, Al Mansoori petroleum services is active in more than 20 countries including in GCC, Iraq, Libya and Syria.