Empired pushes into Asia with $15m oil deal

Australian integrator Empired plans to make a $15 million managed services contract with InterOil Corporation in Singapore as a “low risk, low cost” entry into the Asian market.

The Perth-headquartered firm has leased facilities accommodating up to 25 staff in Singapore and plans to launch services into Asia, said managing director Russell Baskerville.

He said there was a gap in the market for a mid-market player with extensive infrastructure and application managed services expertise. "There is currently little genuine alternative in the market offering these services that isn’t a large multinational company," he told CRN.

InterOil assets include one of Asia’s largest undeveloped gas fields. The company has permits to look for oil and gas in almost four million acres in Papua New Guinea and has more than 2,000 staff and contractors.

Empired estimates $15 million in revenue from the contract, which includes fixed monthly managed services revenue and a “conservative” estimate for project work.

The Australian company will deliver managed infrastructure and application support services covering communications, finance and corporate systems as well as exploration and production systems.

The contract spans five years, with an initial three-year period and further two, one-year options.

Empired is one of several Australian IT channel companies tapping into opportunities in Asia. Sydney data centre solution distributor DPSA spoke late last year about a gap in the market in Singapore. The company moved into Papua New Guinea in 2013.

Meanwhile, Sydney Oracle and Cisco partner MCR merged its Papua New Guinea operation with Allcom PNG last year. Managing director of the new entity Luke Byer told CRN at the time that an Exxon LNG project had been a “massive boost” to the Papua New Guinea economy. 

Empired's Singapore win follows a $20 million deal with Rio Tinto, a NZ$12 million contract with Ministry for Primary Industries and a contract with Toyota this year.

Empired now has more than 800 staff across Australia, New Zealand, North America and Singapore. It recently unveiled a new logo and plans to bring its Intergen, OBS and eSavvy businesses under the Empired name.