Sometime in 1994, the trio of Wale Tinubu, Omamofe Boyo and Onajite Okoloko had a brainwave of sorts to float an oil firm, Ocean and Oil Services Limited.
It was not with any intent to just swell the number of existing players in the sector; rather, it was to radically change the narrative in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
Of course, they were not totally strangers to the inclement business environment in the country or even the vagaries of the market they were eyeing at the time.
This is simply because the three business partners had individually garnered some experiences in the oil and gas business before venturing into it.
For the uninformed, Tinubu started out as a lawyer, specializing in corporate and petroleum laws; Moyo, also a lawyer, specialized in shipping and oil services while Okoloko, an economist, had worked in the sales, marketing and business development in the US before returning home to work in the oil industry.
Buoyed by a clear vision and mission, they floated Ocean and Oil Services to supply diesel and Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) to various shipping firms and offshore exploration companies in Nigeria.
At the time, the upstart company commenced business only with a vessel, MT Carolina, anchored in
Bonny Island, Rivers State to supply diesel and Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) to off-shore companies from the Port-Harcourt, Rivers State refinery.
Their humble beginning notwithstanding, they were able to acquire six more ships, within six years of their operations.
The development, it was gathered, was a pleasant surprise to their fierce critics.
But Tinubu and his partners chose to spring more surprises on their competitors and muckrakers in subsequent years. In 2000, they took another bold steps by expressing an interest in acquiring a 30% controlling interest in the defunct Unipetrol, following the government’s decision to sell its controlling 60% stake in the
integrated downstream oil marketing company.
Though many saw the move as a wild goose chase, the company, with support from its foreign technical partners, Compagnia Espanola De Petroleos (CEPSA), the second largest oil group in Spain, pulled through and later increased its shares in Unipetrol to 42 % in 2001.
Certainly, for the trio, the journey had just begun. A year after, Ocean and Oil Services Limited acquired a 60% stake in Agip Nigeria Plc. This came about when Agip Petroli International BV of Italy decided to divest from the downstream sector, hence the partners bought over the foreign company’s shares and added Agip Nigeria Plc, the company’s local subsidiary, to their portfolio.
This was achieved with a N9.2 billion four-year syndicated loan from a consortium of local and international lenders, to finance its purchase.
But this turned out to be a precursor to the metamorphosis of Ocean and Oil Services Limited to Oando Limited, after the merger of the two newly acquired companies.
Again, the company’s profile received a boost when it successfully secured a cross-border listing on the Johannesburg Stock of Exchange (JSE) in South Africa in 2005!
Over the years, the company that started like a mustard seed has not grown to be like an oak, with several subsidiaries, including Oando Marketing Limited, OML, one of the largest downstream petroleum marketing companies in Nigeria with over 500 retail outlets across Nigeria, Ghana, and Togo; Oando Supply and Trading Limited, OST, one of the largest independent traders of crude and refined petroleum products in sub-Saharan Africa incorporated in 2004; Oando Gas & Power Limited, OGP, a pioneer in the development of Nigeria’s foremost gas distribution network, spanning 264km and serving over 150 industrial and commercial customers in Lagos, Calabar and Port Harcourt incorporated in 2004; Oando Energy Services Limited, OES, Nigeria’s largest indigenous oilfield services provider incorporated in 2005 to enhance indigenous participation with a fleet of 5 rigs; Oando Energy Resources, OER, one of Nigeria’s foremost indigenous upstream oil and gas companies.
Sometime in 2004, the company ventured into the upstream business by securing a 42.75% interest in the marginal field, OML 56; in 2007, it acquired a 15% stake in OML 125 & OML 134; in 2008, it acquired a 30% interest in the Akepo marginal field, OML 90 and in 2009, it acquired an 81.5% interest in Equator Exploration Limited in 2009.
Three years after, specifically in 2012, Oando was awarded a 100% in Blocks in Sao Tome EEZ.
Till date, not a few have forgotten how Oando Energy Resources, OER, had, in 2014, acquired ConocoPhillips Nigerian assets for $1.8bn (inclusive of working capital), secured a 20% interest in the NAOC-Joint Venture (“the JV”) and augmented its total net 2P reserves to 503 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), with peak net production levels of 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboep/d).
Ten years after the widely reported purchase of ConocoPhillips Nigerian asset, Oando, in August 2024, completed the acquisition of 100% of Eni’s interest in NAOC, the operating company of the JV, thereby increasing its stake in the JV from 20% to 40%, and securing operatorship of the JV as well as doubling its 2P reserves to 996.2 mmboe.
Meanwhile, the transformative journey of Oando became more tellingly noticeable again in 2021 with the addition of Oando Clean Energy Limited to boost nigeria’s energy requirements, and fulfill the United Nation’s Race to Net Zero.
It was really a plus for Oando, as the Lagos Government keyed into immediately. Following the signing of the MoU to replace the state’s mass transit bus system with electric mass transit buses along with the supporting infrastructure, the Company, in May 2023, rolled out two electric mass transit buses in fulfilment of the Proof-of-Concept Phase, with 552 buses to be secured by the end of 2023.
Ten years after the widely reported purchase of ConocoPhillips Nigerian asset, Oando, in August 2024, completed the acquisition of 100% of Eni’s interest in NAOC, the operating company of the JV, thereby increasing its stake in the JV from 20% to 40%, and securing operatorship of the JV as well as doubling its 2P reserves to 996.2 mmboe.
Interestingly, in its 30 years of operations, Oando has invested very hugely in
Corporate Social Responsibility , CRS, via its Oando Foundation. Its signature program-The Adopt-A-School Initiative (AASI), has adopted 88 public primary schools across Nigeria, supported over 500,000 students, enrolled over 60,000 Out-of -School children; trained 5000+ teachers, constructed 154 classrooms and sanitation facilities and established 39 digital learning centres. The Foundation aims to impact 2million beneficiaries across 200 schools by 2027 through its various education, and environmental initiatives.
Today, Tinubu has successfully led the oil giant to be one of the sub-Saharan Africa’s leading indigenous energy companies.
Yet, no one can tell with exactitude what Tinubu and his partners have up their sleeves to further position Oando as a global brand in the coming years.
