ESTABLISHED in 1987 National Petroleum Services (NPS), formally NOWMCO Group has grown to be the largest regionally owned international oil, gas and petrochemical services group that competes on a global scale.

Since joining forces with the National Drilling Company (NDC) of Saudi Arabia, to form NPS in 2004, NPS has grown from a workforce of 250 employees to over 1,460.
Capitalising on internal growth opportunities, leveraging the client relationships of the merged companies throughout the new group, and the acquisition of other companies in the region providing services to the same market has proved to be a successful strategy. NPS now has a footprint in over 23 countries, with its core business in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates, Syria, Brunei and Libya.
Commenting on which of the countries is most profitable, Abdulaziz Mobarak Al Dolaimi, NPS chairman and CEO says: “Not all services that we offer are in all the countries within our footprint, by default Saudi Arabia remains the most profitable for us, as we offer integrated services which includes our four key strengths, Well drilling, Well logging, Well testing and Well services, all the other countries utilise at least one of the services offered but in most cases they use at least two.”
Saudi Arabia still remains the country with the most growth potential and has shown a steady growth since 1994 and more so since the surge in the oil market due to the dynamics of the oil price.
In the short term Libya and Syria are going to have a dominating effect on NPS, as the two countries are utilising both the Well drilling and Well Services offered, and NPS will be concentrating on these until they are up and running.
“We are targeting to provide all services in Libya by the end of 2008 including Well logging by the end of 2009,” says Al Dolaimi. “With Libya coming into the market, the Libyan Government has floated exploration blocks which are attracting a large number of Oil and Gas companies, therefore we are looking to capitalize on the spin off services,” he adds.
Al Dolami went on to say: “Currently we have in Syria, four drilling rigs, and two   stimulation and coiled tubing packages. These rigs have been in operation since 2005 and have provided us with a steady growth of work.”
Looking to the east, NPS has had an operation in the Sultanate of Brunei since early 2007, and are currently in talks with Shell Brunei to expand NPS’s coil tubing services and have already completed registration and qualification for Cementing Services. “We are looking to explore and further penetrate the Far East and are in extensive talks with major operators, where it is planned that operations will start in 2009.” Al Dolaimi went on to say: “NPS has also submitted technical and company pre-qualification bids in Malaysia, anticipating successful awards. These bids have opened the door additional follow up services.”
“Maintaining our growth potential in the Far East has been further enhanced by the acquisition of 54 per cent of Rong Zing Petroleum services, a company specialising in Well logging, we will expand our marketing potential and build on our human capital on the ground in order to expand our coil tubing applications in the region.”
Across the water to the Americas, Al Dolaimi says, “NPS has begun registration proceedings in the United States, where we are offering our Well logging services and have already started operations through Hotwell, which was primarily set up to cater for sales of manufactured products especially Well Logging Equipment, Hotwell USA was set up in Huston as an independent logging company in March 2007, within the next two months we will have Case hole and Open hole logging services starting in the Appalachian Mountains in Kentucky and Virginia”.
“We are building on an already successful formula, one that we started with in Canada through Hotwell, where we began with one unit, gained a reliable reputation for achieving and making good on deliverables, and now we have four units with 100 per cent utilisation.” “Our business model is relatively simple, because our service is good and our deliverability is good, we will gain a good market reputation and share. We will be in the forefront of the selection process,” Al Dolaimi says.
“By seeking out companies that have their own capabilities with a good market share, but have a similar service base, we look to build on the local knowledge and business intelligence, find where our joint companies can compliment mutual services and enhance financial and management skills,” he says.
“NPS invites and pursues Joint Venture opportunities as part of our goal to create NPS’s worldwide footprint, we prefer to buy into companies that we have previously work together with to create a win-win combination. NPS aims to have a 51 per cent controlling interest. This ratio is important for pushing NPS standards in Service, Business Development, the control of the core investment and consolidation of business.”
Al Dolaimi says: “It is important to us and our potential joint venture companies that we are seen as a non-aggressive partnership when we solidify the management structure. By achieving this we can continue the successful growth and expansion of the individual and joint service companies with the ability to compete aggressively in an open international market.”