The world’s relentless need for natural resources combined with an acute shortage of qualified geologists and geophysicists, has increasingly led the oil and gas industry to outsource the management and assessment of data related to its exploration and production activity.

Specialising in petroleum technology, Pakistan’s LMKR, founded in 1994, is well positioned to capitalise on this trend. It provides information management, data processing and software solutions to oil and gas companies and governments worldwide and employs a skilled workforce of more than 400 professionals (including 280 geologists and geophysicists). And whilst information management is a relatively small market, the underlying geoscience information and expertise helps to reduce exploration and development risk and is the foundation upon which much of the oil and gas industry bases its decision making.

Actis’s investment in the company in 2007 has helped develop LMKR into a significant player in oil and gas technology services. Actis’s investment led to the recruitment of more specialist expertise, the expansion of overseas offices creating a global presence for the firm. The Actis Environmental, Social and Governance team has worked with LMKR to introduce international standards of governance. Through a contract with Halliburton, LMKR has recently entered the Oil & Gas technology products market, in particular those catering to unconventional energy sources.