Leading storage and inspection firm Independent Oilfield Services (IOS) is heading for a strong performance in 2018 with recent announcements that the company has secured two new contracts worth more than £12.5million and has embarked on a £5.5million investment and expansion programme.
The new investment brings the company’s total outlay in its Longside Supply Base near Peterhead to £10million since IOS was set up in 2014. Privately owned and privately funded, IOS has seen year on year growth since launch and anticipates a further 30% increase in turnover over the next 12 months.
In the first phase of this additional investment, IOS bought its current 32-acre site at Longside for £2.5million. The company was three years into a 10-year lease before deciding to buy the site outright to support its future growth plans. It retains a 15-year option to lease additional sites with the potential to extend the facility to 100 acres.
It is now proceeding with a £3million expansion at Longside to create additional external storage. Included in this will be new onsite warehousing, an inspection facility which will be three times the size of the current facility and a third-party machine shop onsite, all of which will enable the company to provide additional and enhanced services and facilities to its existing and new client base.
This will add to the current 32 acres of hard-standing outdoor storage and internal warehouse storage where current services include OCTG, drillpipe and offshore inspection, equipment rental, transportation and tubular management.
“We opened the Longside facility in direct response to the shortage of industrial storage space in the North-east and since then we have seen rapid growth in our customer base,” said IOS managing director Glynn Geddie. “Before that, most equipment and tubulars had to be transported considerable distances by road to reach suitable facilities. Our location, just four miles from Peterhead’s deepwater port and our range of facilities and services makes us ideally placed to provide a cost-effective alternative to operators and contractors.”
IOS’s location on the outskirts of Peterhead was instrumental in its biggest new contract win. The Sumitomo Corporation Europe awarded IOS an eight-year, £10million contract to carry out OCTG management and inspection services, citing proximity to Peterhead, the comprehensive ranges of services and the potential for future expansion as key factors in its decision.
Odfjell Drilling has agreed a £2.5million contract for the management and inspection of drillpipe. The size of the facility and the range of available equipment available will enable quick and efficient loading and unloading which will allow Odfjell to meet its very tight deadlines.
“We are absolutely committed to the Peterhead area and the role we can play in the local economy,” said Mr Geddie. “Since 2014 we will have invested £10million and created 70 new jobs with 70 percent of employees coming from the Buchan area and we anticipate that to grow in line with future company growth.”
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