Kenya on My Business Radar

Downtown Nairobi

A colleague e-mailed me recently:  Benson and his partner were in the US, seeking investors for their oil and gas services company in Kenya.  We exchanged e-mails the week before last, and spoke on the phone.

Hope this email finds you well.

I found your contact via linkedin and thought of reaching out to you in reference to a newly discovered Gas & Oil exploration venture my partners have been working on back in Kenya. Due to your vast experience & exposure escpically working with Gas & Oil companies globally i felt you'd be the ideal individual to reach out to.

My business partners & I run a gas and oil exploration consultancy/support services company in Kenya, whereby we specialize in project support and other services needed in the oil & gas, power generation and petrochemical industry

Currently we are in the US scouting out for potential business partners/investors who would be interested in partnering with us in terms of the Gas & exploration business back in Kenya.

Please persuse through our attached profile and let me know when would be the best time for me to reach-out to you via phone for a partial introduction. Currently i am in Minneapolis.

Many thanks for your e-mail.

I had an old colleague from BP, who was from Libya. He and I talked just a little about the oil and gas sector in his home country, but we were mostly focused, at the time, on BP's efforts to build a relationship with the Kuwaiti government.

The focus of my consulting work remains on the Middle East (GCC), and Africa isn't on my radar for the foreseeable future. But I will look at your profile more closely. How long will you be in the US?

Will here until the 24th (Tuesday).

Apologies for missing your call last Friday. I just left you a voice mail message at the number you called me from.

I'm very experienced in the oil and gas industry, mainly in the Middle East, but unfortunately I'm not in a position to invest and I'm not in contact with investors. In the future, I would like to be part of a consortium that has equity stake in an oil and gas venture, but that's several years away.

It looks like GASOILEX is in the same industry as Halliburton and Schlumberger, except that your company doesn't offer well management, right?

In any event, I don't know if you have a flight out of the US tomorrow, but please feel free to ring me again in the morning.
We had a good conversation, and promised to send him another e-mail:

It was very good to connect with you earlier today.

I have friends and colleagues in the oil and gas sector throughout the Middle East (GCC) - mainly in Kuwait, but also in UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman. None of them, though, are investors. But they may have direct or indirect contacts who are investors. The main purpose of my communications with friends and colleagues, as well as senior leaders and decision-makers, in the region is to build client relationships and develop business for my consulting firm.

Because looking for investors is not my main purpose, it's a long-term proposition to make this a part of my contacts and communications and eventually to reach prospective investors directly. Again, for the future, I'm keen on being part of an oil and gas consortium, that is, with equity stake in an oil and gas E&P venture.

The companies that I'm focusing most in the GCC are: Kuwait Petroleum Corp., Saudi Aramco, and Qatar Petroleum. In North America: ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips. In Europe: Shell and BP. I also have Halliburton on my radar, because I have a colleague in their Kuwaiti operations.

The foregoing are on my side of things.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm keen to learn more about the oil and gas sector in Kenya as a whole and about GASOILEX in particular. Any resources that you think would be helpful for me, please send me links or materials. I'd love a chance to travel there, perhaps for a client engagement: The focus of my consulting firm is leadership, people and results. For example, I do executive coaching, leadership training and human resources development, and high potential identification.

Please have a look at my website, if you haven't had a chance yet: Ron Villejo Consulting.

Let's connect again, when you and your partner reach home, and continue our conversation.

It was somewhat fortuitous that Benson would contact me.  I had been thinking about gathering a consortium to invest in an oil and gas company, but definitely for way down the road.  Not anytime soon.  Still I thought it was a good idea to get to know this gentleman and his company.  There is so much to look into and learn about:  Kenya as a country, and its people, culture and oil and gas sector.  

I can mention GASOILEX to keep contacts in the Middle East, but I'd better be sure first that everything is well and good with their company.  What I had imagined was an Exploration & Production venture, maybe in Europe, so this company didn't quite fit the bill.  Moreover, I'd install, perhaps, one of the executives I'm coaching for a Middle Eastern client as the Managing Director.         

Anyway let's see where this goes.