Task Geoscience – fast-tracking into Houston

Aberdeen-based Task Geoscience is a prime example of the new generation of specialised oil and gas service companies whose expertise is in global demand.  Founded in 2001, the independent geological consultancy works for most of the international oil companies carrying out high-level analysis and interpretation of borehole data.

Task has grown steadily from its three founders to a current group staffing level of 28 with a combined total of 375 years of borehole image expertise, including a liberal sprinkling of PhD’s and MSc’s on its books.  “We are very much a people business, and are fortunate enough to have a core of highly talented and respected geoscientists at the heart of our operations,” observes financial controller Ron Scroggs.

By the international nature of its business, Task has retained a global perspective right from its early days.  Its first overseas office was opened in Perth, WA, in 2003, with managing director Lawrence Bourke relocating to Australia to directly oversee the running of the Asia Pacific operations.

“We had identified Asia Pacific as a prime market for our services, as an expanding oil and gas territory where operators would look for high-level, independent analytical services like ours to validate the data on which they base their oil and gas field development plans,” says Ron.

“We already knew the Asia Pacific market fairly well, and in a sense you could say that it was therefore a cushioned market entry.” This also applied to Houston where the group had established clients and opened an office there in 2007 using the excellent incubation facilities provided by Scottish Development International as a base.

Easy market entry

Initially Task took a short-term lease on an incubation unit in Richmond Avenue, Houston, having been attracted by the logistical ease of this approach.  “Although we were already well known in the Houston marketplace, having carried out geological studies in the Gulf of Mexico for many years, we didn’t really have the time or the manpower to get into all the minutiae of new office set-up – car parking, accommodation, local services, and all the rest,” explains Ron.

“But we had previously attended an SDI seminar in Aberdeen on their international incubation facilities, and we realised that SDI in Houston already had all that local market information at their fingertips, so going down this route was a very easy decision for us to make.”

“It enabled us to hit the ground running and letting our clients know that we now had a local service presence in Houston, which adds hugely to our credibility.”

Task is now looking at other markets for further expansion, and would have no qualms about using the SDI market entry support services again.  “The SDI staff in Houston were most helpful in a fuss-free start-up,” says Ron.  “We had the Task nameplate on the door from day one – where this same exercise took nine months through a large property management group in Perth in Western Australia!

“It is simply so much more efficient to use an existing office incubation service which has already done so much of the hard work,” he adds.  “It enables us to concentrate on our core business in the knowledge that we have a professional, well-resourced presence in a good location but on the most flexible of lease terms, so we can easily move into larger premises at short notice if and when business exceeds expectations and we have to enhance our resources.”

To visit the Task Geoscience website, click here.