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When Asian Geos Sdn Bhd Founder and Managing Director Ir Mohd Helmi Zulkawi mapped out the company's five-year business plan back in 2004, he targeted a turnover of RM12 million for the end of that period. This was a reasonable target considering that in 2003, the year the company commenced operations, Asian Geos was recording turnover of "a few hundred thousand ringgit", says Mohd Helmi. That the company has exceeded initial financial targets is an understatement. In 2009, the company chalked a turnover of RM60 million. This year, Asian Geos is expected to nearly double its turnover to an all-time high of RM115 million. 

As one of the leading offshore geotechnical contractors in Southeast Asia with growing presence in Europe and the Caspian Sea, Mohd Helmi says, Asian Geos has not only grown from strength to strength but is also gaining trust from clients and companies the world over. He stresses the company's phenomenal growth was not achieved overnight.

"It came with investments and capital expenditure...We invested in vessels and went into difficult markets," he adds. He also credits the growth to the "powerful amalgamation of a strong and highly qualified management team, a globally experienced workforce of Malaysians and other nationalities, and excellent worldwide track records".

A member of the Orogenic Group, Asian Geos provides offshore geotechnical investigation, engineering and consultancy services. Explaining the nature of its business, Mohd Helmi says the company is involved in the collection of sub-soil data by geotechnical sampling and in-situ soil testing which would be used as design parameters for the construction of offshore structures and facilities including oil platforms and pipelines.

"Asian Geos uses the latest design methods and our own unique and comprehensive databases on soil and structure performance to provide safe and cost-efficient solutions for our clients. We undertake foundation and geotechnical analysis for the design and installation of offshore structures including piled jackets, gravity base structures, floating production systems, jack-up drilling rigs, subsea templates, conductors, pipelines, suction anchors and drag anchors," explains Mohd Helmi.

The company owns and operates five marine drill rigs called the AG-50, AG-30, AG-30DK, AG-25 and AG-20. These rigs are mounted on its own vessels MV Orogenic Geos, MV Volans and on various vessels provided by its strategic partners.

Mohd Helmi says MV Orogenic Geos, having been specifically designed to meet the challenges of operating in today's offshore oil and gas markets, is fully equipped for geotechnical and analogue survey and capable of undertaking long duration projects in severe operating conditions. The company's second vessel, MV Volans, has been used to perform many offshore soil-boring works in Southeast Asia. MV Volans was AG's first geotechnical drilling and survey ship equipped with a permanent drill rig, a moon-pool, motion-compensated drilling system, wireline cone penetrometer testing (CPT) system and shear vane system.

In addition, Asian Geos also supplies and operates drilling rigs onboard other vessels owned by its partners Calegeo Limited, UK and PTSC Marine, Vietnam.

While based in Kuala Lumpur, the company has offices in Norwich (England), Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok and Vung Tau (Vietnam).

In Malaysia, Asian Geos' clients include PETRONAS Carigali, PCPP, Murphy Oil, Newfield, Talisman Energy and Nippon Oil. In the region, the company's clients include TOTAL Indonesia, PTTEP Thailand, PVEP Vietnam, Korean National Oil Company, Conoco-Phillips Indonesia, Daewoo Myanmar, Carigali-PTTEP Thailand, Carigali-Hess and PETRONAS Carigali Vietnam.

Asian Geos' track record includes jobs in Mexico, Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Malawi Ghana, Turkmenistan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Oman, Qatar, India, Australia, Papua New Guinea and China.

How it all began

So how did a fairly new company establish its presence overseas? Mohd Helmi explains that it was a question of survival that first spurred Asian Geos to venture abroad. In 2003, when Asian Geos first started its operations, the domestic market was dominated by Teknik Lengkap Sdn Bhd (now a wholly-owned subsidiary of SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd).

"Teknik Lengkap had major contracts with the oil companies and we had to wait until these contracts had lapsed before we could bid for jobs," he recalls. That Mohd Helmi was very familiar with the market is unsurprising given that he was the executive director of Teknik Lengkap from 2000 until his departure in 2003.

"Given that there was not much room in Malaysia, the only sensible thing to do was to go abroad," adds Mohd Helmi. At about the same time, the entrepreneur also realised that to succeed he needed the financial muscle. So in May 2004, Mohd Helmi offered a 51 per cent equity stake in Asian Geos to Orogenic Group (an integrated geosolution and engineering service provider) but retained management control of the company. "We then leveraged on Orogenic's strengths and track record to launch Asian Geos."

Asian Geos' first foray overseas was in India with Comacoe, a company that provided near shore geotechnical services. "We joined forces. They had the vessels but not the capability to build rigs. That's where we came in," he adds. Subsequently Asian Geos through Orogenic invested in new equipment such as the CPT system that then allowed the company to offer drilling and specialised testing services. "Hindustan Oil was our first client," Mohd Helmi recalls.

With that track record, the company began bidding for jobs in Malaysia, winning its first contract with Murphy Oil in June 2005. In 2008, Asian Geos secured a contract to undertake geotechnical investigations for PETRONAS Carigali in East Malaysia.

On the global front, Asian Geos was also riding high. In 2007, the company teamed up with Gardline Survey Ltd (UK) and undertook three geotechnical investigations for offshore wind farms in the UK.

More recently, the company completed a geotechnical and analogue survey project in the Caspian Sea. The AG-25 motion-compensated Marine Drill Rig complete with downhole CPT system and a mooring system were mobilised to Baku, Azerbaijan, says Mohd Helmi.

The company also recently completed two geotechnical investigation campaigns in offshore Germany and Belgium, its first venture in the region since its maiden foray to the region in 2007. Buoyed by success of this job, Mohd Helmi says that Asian Geos, through its UK partner Calegeo Ltd – with whom it recently signed a three-year cooperation agreement - is now eyeing more geotechnical survey opportunities in Europe, mainly within the wind-farm and oil and gas sectors in the North Sea. "We are now undertaking a survey in Scotland, and in winter we're targeting to head to Angola," says Mohd Helmi.

Key to success

With five marine drill rigs, Asian Geos is currently the second largest offshore geotechnical drilling company in the world, behind Netherlands-based Fugro. While Fugro leads with more than Euro2 billion in revenue in 2009 and a total of eight geotechnical vessels, Asian Geos is no small fry. The company's association with Calegeo, for example, is believed to have caught the competition in Europe by surprise.

Mohd Helmi points out that the company's success boils down to having a proven track record. "We have experience working on wind farms for oil and gas clients and now we have the experience of working on deepwater positioning vessels." That the company has managed to assemble five geotechnical survey spreads of varying sizes is also testament to its innovativeness in putting together a variety of rigs to suit its clients' needs.

He also doesn't discount the role played by Orogenic, especially in the early years. "Orogenic was like a big brother grooming us, especially in the area of financing."

People play an important role in the company's achievements. "We have personnel from Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. People are key...if our people had failed in that first job in the UK back in 2007, there wouldn't have been an Asian Geos," says Mohd Helmi. General Manager Ahmad Fikri Mustapa agrees, adding that it is this "close knit group of experienced personnel with niche expertise that drives the growth of Asian Geos".

Equally important to Asian Geos' success is its partnerships. Mohd Helmi stresses that even when local partnership is not a requirement, there is value in having a partner. "Having a local partner is important not only for marketing and support, but it also helps in managing the challenges of working in diverse operating environments," he says.

Reiterating the importance of partnerships, Senior Manager of Projects and Operations, Abdul Rasid Jaafar, says it's important not only to know the company and persons the company is dealing with, but also to understand the partner or prospective partner's local cultures, traditions and history. "In this regard, I always buy a book or at least surf the net before I go to any unfamiliar region to ensure I know a little about the region or territory."

Elaborating on the company's plans, Mohd Helmi says Asian Geos aims to maintain its position as the leading geotechnical services provider in Malaysia and South East Asia. "We also need to enhance our technical capability and keep abreast with technology," he says, adding that seabed technology is an area the company is paying close attention to given its relevance to deepwater investigations.

"In five years, we see ourselves as one of the dominant global players. We are hiring people, training people, we have the equipment and we're looking to own more vessels," he says, adding that the company is also keen to expand its business to the Middle East and possibly West Africa.

Article by Sreerema Banoo. 

Mohd Helmi Zulkawi is the founder and Managing Director of Asian Geos Sdn Bhd, the second largest offshore geotechnical drilling in the world. He is from batch 81 and definitely one of the most successful among the old boys.