December 7 - Global marine and engineering consultancy LOC Group has opened an office in Cairo, Egypt to increase the company's presence across North Africa and the Middle East.
While LOC has worked on projects in the region for more than 15 years, mainly offshore in the gas fields of the West Delta Deep Concession, the organisation says an increasingly optimistic economic outlook in the region is driving greater demand for its services.
The Cairo office will be staffed by local engineers and surveyors, and will act as LOC's regional hub for North Africa.
"This is an exciting region to work in, we have long standing relationships with many clients from our work over the last decade, but the volume of the work and demand for our different services is increasing," explained Andrew Squire, group chief executive. "It now makes good sense to have a solid base in Cairo, employing local talent supported by our international specialist teams."
Longer term, LOC plans to develop the Cairo office into a larger multi-function office providing marine warranty surveying, marine surveying, marine casualty response and engineering consultancy.
Peter Baggaley, LOC's group energy director covering Europe and Africa, officially opened the office on December 6, saying: "Egypt, for us offers an exciting growth opportunity.
"The country is attracting significant investment internally and from abroad. As a result, there are some significant oil and gas projects underway and in the pipeline, with further opportunities on the West Delta Deep Concession, Atoll and Zohr gas fields in the Mediterranean."
Peter Baggaley, LOC's group energy director
