Petroleum Geochemistry Acquisition to Strengthen Global Quality and Safety Specialists

LGC (UK), an independent provider of diagnostic and analytical testing services and reference materials to the public and private sectors, is pleased to announce the sale of its Petroleum Geochemistry Analytical Services business at Teddington in the UK to Intertek, a leading global provider of quality and safety services to a wide range of industries.

The business, which includes two full-time and two part-time expert staff and generates an approximate annual revenue of around £370,000, was transferred to Intertek on 24 December 2009. The staff and key equipment will join Intertek’s Analytical Services facilities in Sunbury on Thames in January to further extend the expert analytical services that Intertek provides to clients in the oil and gas industries in the UK and Europe.

LGC’s Petroleum Geochemistry services business provides a wide range of high quality analytical and geochemical interpretation services for the North Sea oil and gas exploration industry, which are highly complementary to Intertek’s services offered in the region and globally. The LGC team has a strong reputation within the market, having provided highly professional and valued support to clients for the past 12 years
and is led by Nigel Goodwin, who has over 20 years’ experience as a petroleum geochemist. LGC decided to exit the Petroleum Geochemistry business for strategic corporate reasons.

Derek Craston, Director of LGC’s Research & Technology Division and the Government Chemist, commented: “I’m very pleased that Intertek will be taking up the opportunity to build on this highly skilled operation into the future, with this team of excellent scientists. This business is no longer a ‘good fit’ with the rest of our activities here at LGC but we are confident that it has an excellent and sustainable future as part of Intertek”.

Commenting on the agreement, Dr Philip Norman, Vice President, Intertek Analytical Services, said: “This is a great opportunity for Intertek and we look forward to integrating the petroleum geochemistry operation into our current portfolio. The Petroleum Geochemistry Group will add to our extensive range of services for the upstream oil exploration and production business. It will enable Intertek to provide a more comprehensive
service to both the existing Geochemistry Group clients and those we currently serve from Sunbury. The acquisition is a good fit, both technically and geographically, aligning well with our Houston-based Westport Technology Centre which also serves the upstream petroleum sector.”