US Exim has issued a US$13.1mn loan guarantee to support the sale by Halliburton Energy Services of oil well measurement technology, equipment and services to Nigeria.

us eDrillog Petro-Dynamics in Port Harcourt in Nigeria will use the equipment to capture information about the drilling process for international oil majors operating in Nigeria.

Commenting on the transaction, US Exim Bank chairman and president James Lambright says: “This transaction supports US jobs, and also equips Drillog Petro-Dynamics to be the first Nigerian local service company to offer these advanced drilling services to oil majors.”

He adds: “We believe African markets offer great potential for American exporters, and our financing support can help make more transactions like this a reality.”

HSBC Bank is the guaranteed lender on the transaction and Nigeria’s Diamond Bank is the borrower.

Halliburton will provide Logging While Drilling (LWD) technology and equipment to capture information about the drilling process, well geometry, and rock and fluid properties at the well. Drillog Petro-Dynamics also will receive a service and training platform for its engineers, and the rights for two and a half years to bid on a right-of-first-refusal basis with Halliburton, for oil service contracts tendered by oil majors in Nigeria, where LWD services are being requested.

Over the last year, US Exim has authorised over US$532mn in support of 140 US export transactions to 23 sub-Saharan African countries. The bank has been demonstrating increasing interest in the Nigerian market, having held a roundtable in Washington D.C earlier this year to brief over 70 US manufacturers and commercial lenders on the opportunities in the Nigerian market.