August 19 - International oilfield support services company ASCO has opened a new marine supply base in Darwin, Australia.

The USD110 million purpose-built supply base will support Northern Australia's growth as an international hub for the oil and gas industry, said ASCO.

"Australia is an important building block for us as we build our global operations through our four key regions - Europe, Americas, Middle East and Africa and Australasia," said ASCO group ceo, Derek Smith.

According to the Australian Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE), investment in LNG gas and oil projects continues to be the main driver of resources and energy investment in Australia.

"Already a number of international oil and gas companies including ConocoPhillips, Eni, INPEX and Shell will be supporting their operations from Darwin and the supply base will be a critical link in their supply chain operations," added ASCO ceo in Australia, Matt Thomas.

ASCO took a majority stake in provider of remote area transport and logistics to the oil and gas industry, Bonnie Rock Transport, this year, which was reported by HLPFI on May 26.

www.ascoworld.com