Marius Koffi, Côte d’Ivoire operations lead for the Oilfield Engineering and Services Group (OESG), talks to The Energy Year about renewed interest in Côte d’Ivoire among global companies following high-profile offshore discoveries and growing the company into an integrated upstream services provider.
Oilfield Engineering and Services Group is an Abidjan-based oilfield services company that operates in francophone West Africa.
- Offshore finds in Côte d’Ivoire’s offshore basin have elevated the country into a high-potential exploration destination, attracting international interest and boosting regional confidence.
- Regulatory clarity must improve to fully unlock investment potential. Despite strong prospects, unresolved legal and operational frameworks are slowing FIDs, particularly for production projects.
- The capabilities of domestic firms are growing, but offshore services remain underdeveloped. In this context, internationally trained Ivorian expatriates are returning home to fill the skills gap, raising standards and accelerating knowledge transfer across the sector.
How do offshore discoveries such as Calao and Baleine influence your confidence in Côte d’Ivoire’s broader basin prospectivity?
Any discovery in Côte d’Ivoire or in West and Central Africa creates excitement and confidence in the country’s economic future. What many people do not realise is that Côte d’Ivoire has been an oil-producing country for more than 30 years, albeit at relatively modest levels in the past.
Since 2020, however, the landscape has changed significantly. Major discoveries have helped reposition Côte d’Ivoire as a high-potential exploration destination, improving the country’s visibility and attracting renewed interest from international players eager to replicate the success.
At the same time, the context has evolved, and today, there is a stronger interest in ensuring that national wealth benefits local populations. In parallel, a generation of Ivorian professionals trained abroad and with international experience is returning home to contribute to the oil and gas sector, reshaping expectations around local participation.
While the opportunity is clear, certain legal and operational aspects remain to be clarified, which creates hesitation among investors. Companies typically want clarity before committing to large-scale production investments.
How competitive is Côte d’Ivoire compared to its regional peers?
Côte d’Ivoire is highly competitive. Historically, the country has offered one of the most attractive business environments in the region, not only in oil and gas but also in agriculture and banking. Abidjan, in particular, has long been a hub for expatriates and investors, and the long-standing presence of international companies demonstrates the country’s stability and attractiveness.
In the oil and gas sector, it is relatively straightforward to establish operations, build partnerships and engage with local and international stakeholders. From a production perspective, Côte d’Ivoire may not reach the levels of major producers such as Nigeria or Angola, but it can compete with countries such as Ghana, Senegal and Mauritania, and potentially lead among them.
What are the main operational challenges in Côte d’Ivoire’s offshore drilling campaigns?
The main challenges are logistical and infrastructural. Port infrastructure is currently under pressure, which can create bottlenecks and extend lead times. If not properly managed, these delays can impact project timelines, particularly during the transition from discovery to production.
Like many African countries, Côte d’Ivoire relies heavily on imported equipment from the US or Asia, but the country has a large pool of educated and motivated local talent. As regulations now often require international operators to offer training and development programmes, the workforce is benefiting from knowledge transfer.
What markets does OESG target, and what is your value proposition?
The key gap we seek to fill is in the offshore services segment. While many local companies offer downstream maintenance, equipment supply and industrial services, there are very few involved in offshore operations.
OESG seeks to position itself as a local upstream service provider capable of operating directly on drilling rigs. Our team has extensive international experience, with many members having worked at leading international service companies.
Our value proposition combines strong local expertise and presence, which ensures compliance with local content requirements, with international partnerships that provide access to advanced technology and equipment. The regulatory framework defines three service categories, ranging from fully local to fully international, and OESG is developing capabilities within the intermediate category, with the ambition of localising more of the value chain.
What have been your most relevant projects to date?
One of our first projects involved slickline services for well diagnostics. It aimed to assess whether an ageing well should be revived or decommissioned. Since then, we have participated in major tenders. Although not all of our bids have been successful, the experience has strengthened our positioning.
Currently, we are pursuing opportunities to supply equipment and materials and provide well construction and drilling services to major players in the country.
What comes next for OESG?
In the short term, our priority is to establish a strong presence in upstream drilling services, and within five years, we want to become a leading national drilling services company. This will require collaboration with international and domestic partners with established infrastructure and logistics capabilities. Our long-term vision is to build a fully integrated national service company, comparable in structure to big players.
While our immediate focus is on consolidating our position domestically, we are closely monitoring opportunities across West Africa. Senegal and Mauritania are particularly attractive due to their offshore activity. Ghana, while attractive due to its maturity, is more competitive and offers fewer entry opportunities. Further afield, we see potential in markets such as Gabon and Angola, where collaboration with local services companies could open up business opportunities.