Challenger Ltd is a provider of contract

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

and

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

land drilling and workover services.

History

Challenger is based in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

(MENA) region, and the company Chairman is Hassan Tatanaki. The company was founded in 1991 and operated first in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

later expanding into the

Operations

Challenger is a provider of contract oil and gas land

well drilling Well drilling is the process of drilling a hole in the ground for the extraction of a natural resource such as ground water, brine, natural gas, or petroleum, for the injection of a fluid from surface to a subsurface reservoir or for subsurfac ...

and work over services. The company owns and operates 25 drilling rigs in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...

providing drilling and work-over services for oil, gas, and

water wells A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. Th ...

, with offices in Egypt,

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at ...

. Workover refers to any kind of oil

well intervention A well intervention, or well work, is any operation carried out on an oil or gas well during, or at the end of, its productive life that alters the state of the well or well geometry, provides well diagnostics, or manages the production of the wel ...

involving invasive techniques, such as wireline,

coiled tubing In the oil and gas industries, coiled tubing refers to a very long metal pipe, normally in diameter which is supplied spooled on a large reel. It is used for interventions in oil and gas wells and sometimes as production tubing in depleted g ...

or snubbing. More specifically though, it will refer to the expensive process of pulling and replacing a Completion (oil well). The company has an extensive client base, including several national oil companies as well as international corporations such as

Agip Agip (''Azienda Generale Italiana Petroli'', en, General Italian Oil Company) is an Italian automotive gasoline, diesel, LPG, lubricants, fuel oil, and bitumen retailer established in 1926. It has been a subsidiary of the multinational petroleu ...

Eni Eni S.p.A. () is an Italian multinational energy company headquartered in Rome. Considered one of the seven " supermajor" oil companies in the world, it has operations in 69 countries with a market capitalization of US$54.08 billion, as of 11 ...

, Total,

Marathon Oil Marathon Oil Corporation is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration incorporated in Ohio and headquartered in the Marathon Oil Tower in Houston, Texas. A direct descendant of Standard Oil, it also runs international gas operati ...

Veba VEBA AG (originally from ''Vereinigte Elektrizitäts und Bergwerks Aktiengesellschaft'' or "United Electricity and Mining Corporation") was a German state owned energy company. VEBA was founded in 1929 as a holding company owned by the state of ...

and Verenex Energy. Challenger works as a regular subcontractor to the state-owned

National Oil Corporation The National Oil Corporation (NOC; ar, المؤسسة الوطنية للنفط) is the national oil company of Libya. It dominates Libya's oil industry, along with a number of smaller subsidiaries, which combined account for around 70% the co ...

of Libya. Challenger is one of the oldest drilling companies in Africa, and particularly in Libya. Since inception, the company has grown every year producing impressive financial results. Challenger is a private company limited by shares registered in the General Registry of the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

, G.B. It operates as a commercial entity through a network of branches in

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German language, German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constit ...

, the Middle East and Africa. Financial Consultants and

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

firms include KPMG and

PriceWaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four account ...

Products and Services

*Challenger - 14 OIME SL-7 *Challenger - 19 National 80-B Trailerized *Challenger - 23 IRI- CABOT-900-Truck Mounted *

Kenworth Kenworth Truck Company is an American truck manufacturer. Founded in 1923 as the successor to Gersix Motor Company, Kenworth specializes in production of heavy-duty ( Class 8) and medium-duty (Class 5–7) commercial vehicles. Headquartered in ...

Trucks - (953-50 Ton, C500-35 Ton and Foremost Delta-3) *Trucks & Trailers - (Mercedes, Nissan Patrol,

Toyota Land Cruiser The (also sometimes spelled as LandCruiser) is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series of models. , the sales of the Land Cruiser totalled more than ...

, Toyota Pickup and MAN) *

Oshkosh Oshkosh may refer to: Places in the United States * Oshkosh, Wisconsin, city and the largest place with the name * Oshkosh (town), Wisconsin * Oshkosh Township, Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota * Oshkosh, Nebraska * Oshkosh Township, Wells County ...

Trucks *Loaders - (

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larva, larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterfly, butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawfly ...

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

) *Excavators - (Caterpillar -D7)

VC Bank Acquisition

In 2006, Venture Capital Bank (VC Bank), a

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

-based

investment bank Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing is ...

, along with its partner, the U.S. private equity firm Global Emerging Markets (GEM), acquired a significant stake in Challenger. The acquisition cost roughly $50 million and was co-financed by VC Bank and GEM. This transaction demonstrated that the MENA region contains several attractive, yet obscured, investment opportunities represented in

privately held companies A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

such as Challenger.''VC Bank Acquires Stake in Challenger''
VC Bank, Nov. 21, 2006 The investment is beneficial to both parties, allowing Challenger to achieve its growth plan and helping VC Bank to achieve its objectives of supporting companies in the MENA region. Challenger Chairman Hassan Tatanaki said that "amongst alternative financing routes available, Challenger's management decided to partner with VC Bank and GEM to fuel and expedite its capacity expansion plans and its geographical coverage." Tatanaki added that "in the oil sector, with Libya in particular, oil production in the 1970s was more than 3 million bpd compared to today's levels of 1.6 million bpd. With proven

oil reserves An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

of of mainly sweet

light crude oil Light crude oil is liquid petroleum that has a low density and flows freely at room temperature. It has a low viscosity, low specific gravity and high API gravity due to the presence of a high proportion of light hydrocarbon fractions. It generall ...

in January 2007, an aggressive plan has been introduced by the Libyan government to enhance production capabilities to 3 million bpd by 2010. Since the lifting of

sanctions A sanction may be either a permission or a restriction, depending upon context, as the word is an auto-antonym. Examples of sanctions include: Government and law * Sanctions (law), penalties imposed by courts * Economic sanctions, typically a b ...

, exploration concessions have been granted to international exploration companies, which hope to drill 50 exploration wells per year." VC Bank

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

Abdullatif Mohammed Janahi added, “our investment in Challenger will help the company snatch the exceptional growth potential in Libya and enter international markets. Soaring oil prices have brought about a supply/demand imbalance of oil rigs worldwide, leading oil and gas companies to spend more on exploration and production. This has, in turn, increased demand for oil drilling contractors such as Challenger.”

Challenger Limited: Selected Clients

Notes:
1. USGS 2002 (Bbbl = "billion barrels of oil").

Notes

General references

*Venture Capital Bank (2006
''VC Bank Acquires Stake in Challenger''
*

Energy Information Administration The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and publ ...

(2007
''Libya: Country Analysis''
*

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

(2006)
''Libyan Economic Report''
Social & Economic Development Group *P. Mobbs (2002
''Mineral Industry of Libya''
*Thomas S. Ahlbrandt (2001
''Sirte Basin Province: Sirte-Zelten Total Petroleum System''

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...

Tuareg Capital - News: ''Gulf Financiers in Libya''
Tuareg Capital

''Silicon Valley-San Jose Business Journal''

External links

Challenger Limited Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Challenger LTD 1991 establishments in Egypt Business services companies established in 1991 Service companies of Egypt Drilling rig operators 2006 mergers and acquisitions