A pioneer indigenous geoscience consulting firm, DNL managed to work its way up the ladder, proving itself to be a highly resourceful, outstanding service provider with superior quality output.
Abiodun Adesanya, Managing Consultant at DNL recalls that around the turn of the millennium, oil blocks were being awarded to Nigerians for the first time, which led to various opportunities. “This encouraged me to register the company. The key drivers were companies like Conoil PLC, Amni and so on. They came into the market for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons and required certain resources to do it. At that time, DNL was there to fill the gap. That is why, if you look at our portfolio today, our bread and butter continue to be the local independent groups,” he says.
“Being a pioneer put us in a very good position. DNL was the first indigenous company in the field to have complete workstations installed in West Africa,” he adds.
Though 100% Nigerian, DNL does collaborate with foreign companies, such as with TGT Oil and Gas Services from the Middle East, in order to stay competitive and meet global benchmarks. “DNL is a knowledge-driven, consultative business where experience is key. We’ve managed to achieve a balance [between local manpower and necessary foreign expertise] by conducting peer reviews with our foreign partners. They meet with and work in some of our partners’ offices. This gives us a good blend of expertise that allows us to complete sophisticated projects and do so with quality,” explains Mr Adesanya, who also expresses interest in collaborating with more companies. “We’re currently in talks with a company in the UK. The idea is to expand our portfolio.”
Because DNL provides services that the international oil companies (IOCs) oftentimes do in-house, Mr Adesanya feels the company is limited in its access. “IOCs do not readily give these kinds of projects to consultants like DNL”, he says. “In terms of how to cross that bridge – because eventually it will come to that – we need to strategically partner with a company these IOCs are comfortable with. While these IOCs have their own internal resources, they also hire external consultants in their headquarters. The goal is for us to reach out to this category of consultants.”
DNL’s business areas cover seismic project management, which includes planning and executing 2D/3D seismic surveys, and well reservoir and surveillance, for which DNL uses unique cased-hole technologies. Ten years ago, the firm began conducting technical due diligence reports for financial institutions and investors.
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