Helping Nigeria’s vessel operators cut costs and reduce emissions

Nigeria

Abenego Okorie, Fueltrax’s director of operations for Africa, talks to The Energy Year about the impact of the company’s technology for its clients and its strategy for making the company a benchmark in serving the maritime sector. Fueltrax is a provider of smart fuel management systems.

How receptive is Nigeria’s marine sector to new technological solutions, and what role does Fueltrax want to play within this space?
In the Gulf of Guinea, and Nigeria in particular, fuel costs are among the highest operating expenses for vessel operators, especially offshore supply vessels and offshore workboats.
The maritime sector in general has been deliberate in adopting new technology, and like all industries, it has both leaders and followers. In Nigeria, we are more in the follower category rather than spearheading the adoption of new solutions. However, Fueltrax’s local presence is playing a significant role in accelerating progress and helping the country bridge the gap with global advancements in marine technology.

How important is the African market for the company?
Africa is a key focus for us, offering vast opportunities across the entire value chain, especially in energy. Our presence in the region has been growing, and today it is one of the largest footprints we have at the Group level.
More specifically, we see Nigeria as a leader in driving digital transformation, with our solutions for marine operators serving as prime examples. This is why our first subsidiary and office outside of the US was set up here back in 2019. Today, Nigeria represents one of the Group’s most important regions for business.

Can you give us an overview of Fueltrax and tell us how your solutions are making an impact for your clients?
Fueltrax began as an engineering company specialising in offshore automation and control systems before evolving into a leading smart fuel management provider. Today, our technology is widely used in the maritime industry to optimise fuel usage, reduce operational costs and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. With a 99% system uptime, Fueltrax offers a highly efficient way to monitor and manage fuel consumption.
When it comes to the technology’s impact, the industry has experienced a significant shift. It is now adopting more technology, but it was not always easy. Both IOCs and vessel operators were hesitant about new solutions. A common response was, “I’ve been sailing this ship for more than 20 years, and now you come telling me how to save fuel?”
However, they quickly realised that adopting this technology was necessary to remain competitive. Our solution is a high-end system, and while it requires an upfront investment, it delivers a full return on investment in less than a year. Cost is always a factor, but it’s essential to take a long-term view. Fueltrax is built to last, extending asset lifetimes and optimising vessel performance.
One of our first clients in Nigeria was ExxonMobil, and they remain one of our largest today. Their success garnered the interest of other operators, including Chevron, who saw firsthand how much their peer was saving and how critical fuel-related challenges were being addressed. That created a ripple effect that drove the increasing demand for our services.
In Nigeria alone, we have replaced over 10 copycat systems for major vessel operators – systems which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. When these break down, replacement costs are substantial, but with Fueltrax’s real-time monitoring, operators can detect and address issues before they become costly failures. We are helping companies prevent unnecessary events, redirecting savings into revenue-generating opportunities instead of covering avoidable losses.

What is your strategy for making Fueltrax a benchmark company in the maritime sector?
We recognise the importance of technology in the maritime industry, and Fueltrax is at the forefront of its adoption. In Nigeria alone, we have installed our system on more than 200 offshore support vessels, and over 300 across the Gulf of Guinea – making it our largest deployment worldwide. This milestone reinforces our position as a leader in smart fuel management and sets a new standard for efficiency and innovation in the sector.

What are the competitive advantages your technology provides to users?
Our advantages can be given in numbers. When we had our first symposium, we had most of our stakeholders and clients in the room. One IOC reported that they’ve seen a minimum 30% reduction in reported fuel usage, and they’ve seen some vessels reduce their fuel consumption up to 70%.
Overall, our optimising tools, which are built into our system, have helped companies save more than 7% fuel when using BestEconomy (a patented optimisation tool) in underway operational mode. Fuel savings have been 19% on average for all operational modes when captains and crew monitor engine metrics provided by FUELNET (Fueltrax’s secure platform) and apply the best practices available to them, in addition to their own experience and expertise.
Let me give you an example of how the system saves fuel. When a vessel arrives at port, it might keep the engines running longer than necessary. Fueltrax continuously monitors live data and alerts you if, for instance, a ship has had two engines running for five minutes. This allows you to immediately instruct the captain to shut them off, enabling proactive fuel management.
Moreover, these savings are not just about cost reduction. They have a positive impact by lowering CO2 emissions. It all comes down to numbers: when a company realises how many litres of fuel it has saved – and therefore not burned – the solution becomes attractive, especially for IOCs, as they are prioritising environmental responsibility. From this perspective, investing in Fueltrax is an easy decision.

How significant is the upstream oil and gas sector for your client portfolio in Nigeria and beyond, and what opportunities do you see ahead for expanding your business?
The upstream is the backbone of our business, representing 95% of our market since most of our technology is deployed on offshore vessels. Another important segment we are targeting is bunkering, as this is where the fuel monitoring and tracking begin. By overseeing fuel operations end to end, we simplify our clients’ accounting processes and ensure complete transparency.
We are looking into expanding our presence in the upstream sector. Major operators such as ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron are already using our system, and now we are seeing growing interest from indigenous oil and gas companies such as First E&P and Seplat. Our goal is to work with all of these operators because the benefits for them are clear. Our solution is tested, proven and highly effective. From our perspective, there is no reason why anyone should not be using it.
Looking ahead, we are optimistic about new opportunities. Nigeria has recently approved important FIDs, including Bonga North, and new offshore drilling campaigns are on the horizon. As E&P companies focus on their core business, we take charge of fuel management, identifying areas of improvement, reducing costs by eliminating the need for field personnel and streamlining logistics. The best part is all this can be managed with a single click.
In Nigeria and across Africa, drilling and E&P operations will continue for the foreseeable future. Our solutions maximise asset value with instant deployment and immediate results while also supporting the energy transition.
To put this into perspective, Saudi Aramco achieved more than USD 4 million in fuel savings for a fleet of 72 vessels equipped with Fueltrax, using our optimisation tools and metrics. This further resulted in a reduction of 17,600 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Finally, we see exciting opportunities in renewables as well. Vessels are deployed to build offshore wind installations. Those vessels burn fuel, and we have already installed our technology for several clients in this space, proving that Fueltrax is adaptable to the evolving energy landscape.

What is your current standpoint in the Nigerian market, and what are your plans for regional expansion?
In Nigeria, there are a few other players in our space, but we are the market leader, holding about an 80% market share. Globally, we maintain a similar position, particularly among IOCs.
Regarding expansion, I see Angola as the next Nigeria for us. The market there is picking up, with increased activity from operators, growing local capacity and a stronger focus on local content, similar to what we’ve seen in Nigeria. I believe Angola will be our next major market. We are already present, but our goal is to bring it to the same level as Nigeria.
Beyond that, we are expanding in several other regions. We are closely watching developments in Namibia and actively monitoring opportunities in Senegal and Mauritania too. Our footprint continues to grow every day.

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