Chemostrat – a Welshpool company that provides specialist geological services to the global oil and gas industry – is already expanding its business in Wales and overseas following a £500,000 investment in new facilities and equipment.
At the official opening of their new state-of-the-art laboratories and offices yesterday (Thursday July 3) Economy Minister Edwina Hart heard the company was already creating jobs locally ahead of schedule and also expanding its teams in Australia and the USA.
The expansion of their HQ, which was supported with £100,000 from the Wales Economic Growth Fund, has doubled the size of their facility on the Buttington Cross Enterprise Park, where eight new jobs have already been created, with another five in the pipeline.
Tim Pearce, Managing Director, said: “Over the last few years we have expanded rapidly. Our success is down to our commitment to R&D and the training and development of all our staff. We have ambitious plans for the future and we appreciate the continued support of Edwina Hart and the Welsh Government.
Opening their facilities the Minister Edwina Hart said: “It’s great news to hear that Chemostrat, which operates in one of our key sectors, is making such an impact worldwide and continues to grow its business in Wales.
“Chemostrat works in a highly competitive field and I am delighted the Welsh Government is able to support its expansion and investment, enabling it to meet the increasing demand for its services around the globe.”
Chemostrat supports oil and gas exploration world-wide. It specialises in the analysis of rock samples, providing high quality interpretation of geochemical datasets for the petroleum industry using traditional and innovative technologies.
Funding support was also provided by the Welsh Government towards the purchase of two portable XRF (X-ray fluorescence) probes which will enable Chemostrat to provide a rapid, on site geochemical analysis of cores that is continuous and real time to aid companies with reservoir targeting.
The business, founded in 1994 by Dr. Tim Pearce and Dr. Ken Ratcliffe in Welshpool, currently employs 59 staff locally and an additional 18 in its offices in Houston, Perth and Calgary.