INTERNATIONAL energy consultant Xodus Group said yesterday it had landed more than £600,000 of contracts in the Gulf of Mexico since it opened its Houston office in February.
A recruitment drive continues and it has invested nearly £1.3million in a move to new, larger premises in the Texan city’s energy corridor.
The operation now has 20 people in place and aims to have 40 by the end of 2012 and increase this to 80 within the first three years.
Xodus, which has its headquarters in Aberdeen, has more than 400 people worldwide. It said Houston was a strategic location because the operation offered integrated services to oil operators across the Americas.
Houston operations director Lawrence Lambon said: “We have had a very successful launch to our Houston operation and, while we’ve been focused on getting the right calibre of senior oil and gas professionals on board, we have also secured projects and signed master service agreements with . . . large operators. We are looking for more subsea, process and facilities and flow-assurance specialists as we predict a growing demand for these services. We have seen significant demand for our integrity-management services for both on and offshore . . . and our integrated approach is proving to be a strong differentiator.”
Xodus said in the summer it aimed to create hundreds of jobs in the coming years after it received £10million of investment. The company plans to add dozens of people to its 200-strong north-east workforce after signing a deal it hailed as a turning point.
The cash boost came come from two investment vehicles: Sunrise Energy Group and the Simmons Parallel Energy Fund, which put in £6million and £4million respectively.
The fresh funding led to a shake-up in the shareholding of Xodus, but a spokeswoman for the firm said management had retained a majority stake.
Xodus plans to grow its workforce to 500 next year and to 1,000 by 2015 after receiving the extra capital.
It also opened new offices recently in Glasgow and The Hague.
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