Nigerian billionaire Ladi Jadesimi's LADOL to develop oil base in Liberia

LADOL, the Lagos free zone and offshore logistics company founded by Nigerian businessman Oladipo "Ladi" Jadesimi, has agreed to help Liberia build its first major shore base for offshore oil drilling, taking its business beyond Nigeria.

LADOL and the National Oil Company of Liberia signed a joint development agreement in London on Oct. 3 for a proposed facility in Buchanan, a port city in Grand Bassa County, the Liberian Observer reported.

A shore base is an onshore facility that supports offshore oil and gas operations. It handles the supplies, equipment, transport and services that drilling crews at sea depend on.

"This agreement is a testament to our confidence in Liberia's oil and gas potential and our commitment to fostering local content development across West Africa," Jadesimi, LADOL's executive chairman, said. "We are not just investors; we are partners in building a sustainable future for Liberia's oil and gas industry."

Keeping the work in Liberia

Liberia wants to avoid repeating its experience during its last drilling campaign. Services such as waste disposal, logistics, supply chain management and technical support were brought in from Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal, so much of the money and many of the jobs went abroad, according to the state oil company.

"We are determined to correct that narrative as we prepare for our next set of drilling programs," said Fabian M. Lai, the company's president and chief executive officer. He said the goal was to make sure "the jobs, the contracts, the training, and the ancillary services that support our petroleum operations are performed by Liberian companies."

The state oil company said the base is being planned in anticipation of more drilling under petroleum agreements the government has already signed, as well as new concessions it expects to award.

A study comes first

LADOL will serve as the state oil company's lead technical partner. It will help fund and carry out a feasibility study, coordinate engineering design, and then build and operate the facility. The study is expected to begin within 45 days and last six months. It will examine how much land is needed, waterfront and marine access, utilities and whether the project can make money, and it will include surveys of the site and scoping for an environmental and social impact assessment.

The agreement makes LADOL and the state oil company the exclusive developer, operator and maintenance provider for the facility, and sets up a joint steering committee to oversee the work. Neither side disclosed the project's estimated cost, a construction timetable or how many jobs it would create.

The Lagos model

The Liberia deal is built on what Jadesimi created in Lagos. LADOL's development began in 2001, when a group of Nigerian investors drew up a plan for an industrial free zone. The site, on an island in the Port of Apapa, was designated a free zone in June 2006.

Its best-known project was Egina, TotalEnergies' giant offshore production vessel. LADOL formed a joint venture with Samsung Heavy Industries to build a facility in the free zone where Egina was integrated, making it the first vessel of its kind ever integrated in Nigeria. The partners invested about $300 million in the yard.

The partnership later collapsed into a bitter dispute. In 2018, LADOL barred Samsung from the free zone and sued it, accusing the Korean company of breaching contracts and Nigerian laws. The fight halted activity in the zone and cost thousands of jobs. Both sides later announced that the dispute had been fully resolved.

From Oxford to oil logistics

Jadesimi studied law at the University of Oxford and was a founding partner of Arthur Andersen in Nigeria, according to LADOL. He also became a major investor in Niger Delta Oil Company, which operates marginal oil fields acquired from Chevron.

He has run LADOL with his family. His daughter, Amy Jadesimi, is the company's managing director and chief executive. She attended the London signing alongside her father, Liberian Observer reported. His son Jide Jadesimi has served as an executive director in charge of business development.

The feasibility study will decide whether the Buchanan project goes ahead. If it does, it would be LADOL's first attempt to reproduce its Lagos operation in another West African country.