Offshore Drilling and Subsea Projects

Houston’s strongest footprint in Africa remains in upstream oil and gas, where the city’s service companies are delivering complex offshore and onshore operations.

Halliburton, one of the world’s largest oilfield service providers headquartered in Houston, secured an integrated drilling services contract for the HI gas field development offshore Nigeria in late 2025, working with Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company and Sunlink Energies. The project deploys advanced drilling technologies and automation systems to enhance efficiency and safety in deepwater operations.

Expro – which operates significant technical and engineering functions out of Houston –  deployed its autonomous iTong casing running system on an offshore project for Eni in Ivory Coast in 2025. The deployment marked the technology’s first deepwater use in sub-Saharan Africa, illustrating how Houston-led innovation is being applied to challenging offshore developments.

McDermott International recently completed EPCIC work for Angola’s Begonia field development, operated by TotalEnergies. The project, Angola’s first inter-block offshore development, includes five subsea wells tied back to the Pazflor FPSO roughly 150 kilometers offshore. McDermott installed more than 40 kilometers of pipelines and subsea infrastructure, highlighting Houston firms’ role in enabling complex offshore project execution across multiple basins.

LNG Engineering and Gas Infrastructure

LNG and offshore gas projects remain some of the most technically demanding segments of African energy development – and Houston engineering firms are deeply embedded.

In December 2025, TechnipFMC secured a major FLNG contract offshore Mozambique, valued at $200–250 million. The project covers EPCIC of subsea manifolds and umbilicals for a floating LNG facility designed to export Mozambique’s gas reserves while reducing reliance on onshore liquefaction infrastructure.

Houston-based KBR has played a central role in Nigeria’s LNG development, delivering EPC services for the first six liquefaction trains at the Nigeria LNG facility on Bonny Island and front-end engineering design for the Train 7 expansion, which will significantly increase export capacity. The company also supported the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG project on the Senegal-Mauritania maritime border, providing pre-FEED, FEED and EPC management to monetize offshore reserves for global LNG markets.

Together, these projects illustrate how Houston firms are critical to scaling Africa’s gas export infrastructure and enabling early monetization of deepwater reserves.

U.S. Investment Momentum

These project wins are drawing increased attention from U.S. investors. The U.S.–Africa Energy & Minerals Forum, scheduled for 21–22 July 2026 in Houston, is designed to connect American investors, project developers and African government representatives to accelerate investment into rapidly scaling energy and minerals sectors.

As African energy and mining development expands, Houston firms are emerging as the engineering and technology backbone behind major projects. Their growing role underscores U.S. expertise in complex infrastructure delivery and signals expanding opportunities for investors seeking exposure to Africa’s next phase of resource development.

USAEMF is the leading platform connecting U.S. capital and technical expertise with Africa’s energy and minerals sectors. For more information or to participate at the upcoming forum, please contact sales@energycapitalpower.com