In 1996 Gandur made the salmon leap from the downstream activities of oil trading and marketing, which provide thin margins by moving huge volumes of other people's oil, into the upstream, which entails more risk and upfront investment but offers fatter returns. aog inked its first production-sharing contract with the oil minister of Ivory Coast to overhaul the abandoned offshore Espoir oilfield.
Oilfield services companies provide the tools and equipment required in the exploration of oil including drilling rigs, offshore rigs and transport equipment.