National Energy Services Reunited Corp. (NESR) began as a special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC) designed to invest in the future of energy production. After significant due diligence across a wide variety of opportunities, NESR recently made investments in two of the most respected oilfield services companies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region: Gulf Energy SAOC (GES) and National Petroleum Services (NPS). NESR announced the acquisitions of the two firms in November 2017 and closed the business combination in June 2018.
The business combination creates a regional oilfield services leader in the MENA region. It provides a platform to accelerate growth and bring new technology to the region. It combines experienced management teams with deep sector expertise and a successful track record. It brings together a diverse and strategic group of large institutional investors. And it forms the first and only US-listed national oilfield services company in the MENA region.
Experienced leadership
Sherif Foda has served as NESR’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman since its inception. He has 25 years of professional experience in the oil and gas industry around the world, primarily at Schlumberger Limited. At Schlumberger, he served as Senior Advisor to the Chairman, President of the Production Group, and President of Schlumberger Europe and Africa. Prior to that, he served as Schlumberger’s Vice President and Managing Director of the Arabian market, was Worldwide Vice President for Well Intervention, and was Schlumberger’s Vice President for Europe, Caspian and Africa, among other roles.
Sherif Foda, CEO and Chairman of NESR
Mr Foda began his career in 1993 with Schlumberger, working on the offshore fields in the Red Sea. He graduated in 1991 from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Faculty of Engineering, and he holds a BSc double major in Electronics and Automatic Control. Mr Foda is a board member of Energy Recovery Inc. (NASDAQ: ERII), a California-based technology company. Also, he serves on the Board of Trustees of Awty International School in Houston and is a board member for Al Fanar Venture Philanthropy in London.
The remainder of the NESR executive team also has proven leadership experience, both in the oilfield services and energy industries, as well as in functional areas such as legal, tax, entrepreneurship, operations, finance, and private equity. Together with the operational leadership at GES and NPS, this team has built a combined company that is able to compete effectively with large global players and provide an in-country solution to many of the MENA region’s top oil and gas producers.
When originally contemplating a transaction, NESR spent considerable time evaluating a wide variety of opportunities around the world. In the energy services sector, they saw the best opportunity in the Middle East, where the market remains fragmented, demand is strong, and customers are seeking alternatives to the larger international providers. The acquisitions of NPS and GES provide NESR with an opportunity to create a sizable player in the marketplace. And with the combined expertise of the three companies, NESR believes it can expand even further. As standalone companies, NPS and GES outperformed most of their peers through the most recent industry downturn, and have prepared themselves for solid growth in the coming years. NESR’s approach will be to aggressively accelerate and build on that track record and market positioning through the injection of new technologies.
Understanding a region
Because NESR is located and operates primarily in the Middle East, with local employees and regional customers, its primary mandate is to serve customers in the region. NESR has existing partnerships with key suppliers, technology providers, and operators in the region, and will continue to develop new partnerships in the coming years. Leveraging these partnerships and driving technological innovation will allow NESR to compete effectively in a market predominately and historically served by international operators. In addition, NESR’s size relative to the competition allows it to be more flexible when assessing and solving customer problems, enhanced by quick turnaround times and rapid innovation. As a result, NESR can deliver tailored, world-class solutions based on customer needs, rather than externally generated solutions that are retrofitted to individual customers.
NESR’s team of employees is virtually all regionally based, enhancing NESR’s knowledge of the marketplace and the key players that will drive the next generation of exploration and production. The team also brings a wealth of cross-country experience within the MENA region, along with an understanding of best practices across countries and geographies.
NESR is committed to in-country value creation. By leveraging its customer focus and local talent, along with its extensive relationships in the region, the company will also drive business to suppliers, operators, and technology providers in the region, increasing the overall strength of partners with which NESR does business. This in-country value creation is a highly valuable element of their offering, as it aligns the company’s core abilities with the strategic initiatives of their customer base, and also will drive innovation and customisation for the specific needs unique to the region. This will be achieved organically, as well as by partnering with technology providers with whom regional R&D facilities will be opened.
NESR’s ultimate goal is to leverage all its competitive advantages to create the first in-region global player that brings world-class service to its customers, prioritising regional investments, including to employees and partners. Ultimately, NESR seeks to become the preferred vehicle for future investment in the thriving EMEA region.
NESR’s vision is to grow outside the region and have a MENA-based company servicing the neighbouring Asia and Africa markets. This will provide exposure to employees, continue to drive diversity, show the strength and know-how of local talent and serve as a new source of employment for the young talent coming out of the region.
Further information
