The Genesis of SAMCO: Abu Dhabi Roots and Commercial Expansion

A principle of innovation

With its registered roots in Abu Dhabi dating back to 1993, SAMCO began operations within both the onshore and offshore oil and gas industry during 2012 when the company was awarded its CN-1176631 commercial licence. During this time, CEO Rolv Flaaten joined the company and continues to guide the business today. SAMCO was founded as an agent for a number of prominent Northern European and Australian companies operating within the UAE. The business presently represents several major names within the rapidly developing Middle Eastern oil and gas industry and counts organisations such as Saudi Aramco, Total, ADMA OPCO, Al Hosn Gas and Bunduq amongst its clients. SAMCO targets the most innovative and proven technology companies from Northern Europe and Australia to represent, which has allowed it to bring new solutions ranging from packers, retrievable bridge plugs, shut in tools to waste water treatment technologies to the Middle East.

Having resided in Abu Dhabi for more than 16 years, Rolv has taken a role in the success of SAMCO in the region, which is partly due to his long-standing relationships with several established Norwegian companies. This has allowed for the smooth transition of technology from Norway to the Middle East and the greatest strength of SAMCO continues to be its expert knowledge and experience. Since the company was previously profiled in Energy, Oil & Gas magazine during October 2015, SAMCO has continued to develop its presence with clients in the Middle East, while growing its portfolio of supporting principles. “It can be very difficult for a small company like us to bring in commodities so we need to bring solutions that are much smarter than the current market offering. The companies that we work with are brought into Abu Dhabi because they can benefit the operations going on here, not because they can make us a profit. It is because they are the best in their field and their technologies have been proven in the North Sea and other established sites,” Rolv explains. “Since 2015 we have begun tendering several technologies, which is very positive in this extremely rough market. The number of principles associated with SAMCO has grown to around 17 and there are also several others that we hope to come during early fall 2016.”

By only working with proprietors of proven technologies within the oil and gas market, SAMCO is able to ensure that it delivers reliable solutions that benefit the development of the energy industry in the Middle East. One principle company that has enjoyed particular success in the region is the Norwegian company, HydraWell Intervention AS, which supplies innovative step change technologies focusing on P&A, cost optimisation and operational risk reduction. Other principle companies include ScanWell AS, which is also based in Norway and provides equipment and services for reservoir, wellhead and process monitoring covering acoustic logging, wireless data acquisition and sampling, as well as the and Scottish company Rubberatkins, which supplies bespoke rubber moulding applications for SAMCO clients. “The key in building a company like SAMCO is to build a strong portfolio that covers as much of the oil and gas market as possible. This way when tenders are announced we are able to provide a suitable answer. That is why we try to have a variety of companies with different products and services and this strategy is currently working very well for us,” Rolv says. “There are opportunities for technology companies and that is what SAMCO is all about. For example, within the UAE and many other neighbouring countries in the Middle East there is an increasing amount of product that is less straightforward to extract. Gone are the days where it was more or less possible to simply drill a hole in the ground and oil would come up. Today much more technologically advanced techniques are required, which is why we exclusively focus on proven and reliable technology from around the world.”

Despite the challenges that are present in the global energy market including the low cost of oil, SAMCO is in a strong position to continue to grow its presence within the Middle East. Although the market has experienced a slow down in recent months, the indicators are that the region is set to experience a relative boom in the near future as operators increasingly employ new technology. “If you consider Aberdeen in Scotland and Stavanger in Norway, they were both fishing regions before the arrival of the oil and gas industry, which resulted in the formation of a great many oil and gas related companies. This evolution has yet to occur in the Middle Eastern region, however the industry is growing and the market will change significantly in the near future,” Rolv concludes. “There is plenty of room for further research and development in the market and through this engineering companies can continue to develop new tools, which will be critical in providing increasingly green and efficient tools once the oil and gas market picks up.”

SAMCO

Services: Agency based in Abu Dhabi representing innovative European and Australian companies for the local oil and gas industry