Oilfield services firm Socotherm will invest 60-70 million euros in 2004-2005, mostly in North and West Africa, as it seeks to cash in on booming oil production, it said on Tuesday.

The Italian company, number two in its sector behind Canada's Bredero Shaw, said investments could remain at about 30 million euros in 2006.

"Our investments will depend on Brazil and Argentina. In 2006 we had expected to reduce investments to 15-20 million euros. But if those projects kick in, we will invest 30 million euros," Chief Financial Officer Armando Musi said at a presentation on Tuesday.

The 145-year old firm said it hoped to set up a permanent plant in Libya as multinationals move back in after two decades of under-investment.Socotherm in the past has been involved in projects in Libya, including Eni's, Greenstream transporting gas across the Mediterranean to Sicily. But it had no permanent base in the country.

"Before we used transportable plants -- we did the work and left," President and CEO Zeno Soave said."Now we have applied to register in the Misurata Free Zone," he said, referring to Libya's third largest city.

Socotherm generates the bulk of its revenues by selling protective coating for pipelines and has benefited from a surge in offshore, deepwater projects.

In a presentation on Tuesday, Soave said the company would boost its presence in Nigeria and Angola where some of the region's main deepwater projects are located.

(From Reuters, October 26, 2004)

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