Panoro Energy

Panoro Energy is an independent oil and gas company focused on exploration and production across Africa. Established in 2009, it is listed in Norway and has its head office in London.

The company holds interests in producing, exploration, and development assets in Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Tunisia, and South Africa. Partnering with national oil companies and international operators to unlock Africa’s energy potential, Panoro Energy contributes to regional energy security and economic development.

Situation

Syntax has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with Panoro Energy, beginning with its predecessor, Pan-Petroleum.

In 2008, Syntax was approached by employees from another oil and gas company it supported, requesting help with IT infrastructure and support for a new venture – Pan-Petroleum. Syntax deployed on-premise file and email servers to support the founding team of five, with scalable solutions in place to accommodate future growth.
By 2010 Pan-Petroleum had grown to over 15 staff and was acquired through a merger with the Norwegian Panoro Energy.

Solution

Syntax led a project to migrate users and data from the Pan-Petroleum domain to Panoro, establishing a new virtualised server infrastructure.

Working closely with the Panoro Energy IT Manager, Syntax supported the organisation as it grew to 25 staff across the UK, Norway, and Brazil. During this time, the IT environment scaled to include eight physical and virtual servers, ensuring resilience and capacity for international operations.

In 2011, following the departure of the IT Manager, Panoro Energy adopted SyntaxOne – a fully managed service offering a single point of contact for all IT-related matters, server support, extended operating hours (covering weekends and bank holidays), and access to a flexible pool of resources.

Today, Syntax continues to support Panoro Energy, who have grown to almost 50 staff based in the UK and Tunisia. Alongside ongoing support, Syntax has delivered several key projects:

  • Office Moves – supported Panoro Energy with two office moves including the supply, installation, and configuration of new network infrastructure (UPS, racks, switches, firewalls, and wireless access points).
  • DNO Tunisia – in 2018 Panoro Energy acquired DNO Tunisia (DNOT), a strategic expansion of its exploration and production portfolio in North Africa. Syntax was engaged to undertake the transition and implementation of new IT related services to support DNOT following the separation from DNO.

The majority of the DNOT IT systems, services, and software were centrally provided by DNO. These were carefully analysed to determine the most appropriate and cost-effective way to deliver them following separation.
The project included:

  • Reconfiguration and replacement of the network environment, servers, and SAN storage.
  • Domain and email migration.
  • Data analysis and restructure of ~15TB of corporate and G&G (geological and geophysical) data.
  • Migration of systems and data to Microsoft 365 and Azure.
  • PC and laptop upgrades and migrations.

Activity was undertaken remotely and on-site in Tunisia.

Cloud Project – in 2023, Syntax initiated a strategic cloud migration project to complete the transition of Panoro Energy’s IT infrastructure from a traditional on-premises datacentre to a modern, cloud-based environment aligned with Microsoft’s ‘Modern Workplace’ vision.
The project encompassed a comprehensive overhaul of Panoro’s existing systems, leveraging Microsoft 365, Azure, and associated services. The scope included:

  • Migrating core business applications.
  • Restructuring and migrating data to a tiered storage solution using Microsoft SharePoint and Azure Files to support the lifecycle management of G&G and office documents.
  • Developing and deploying a Microsoft Autopilot based build to streamline and simplify device provisioning.
  • Migrating G&G software platforms (Kingdom, HampsonRussell, and REP) to a flexible and scalable virtual desktop environment using Microsoft AVD.
  • Implementing robust security and monitoring frameworks.
  • Designing and implementing a high-performance cloud managed network infrastructure.

This transformation also placed strategic emphasis on backup and disaster recovery, networking, and telephony to ensure operational resilience and continuity.

Panoro Energy now benefits from a resilient IT infrastructure, seamless support through mergers and acquisitions, and modern cloud-based systems that enhance security, continuity, and collaboration. Syntax remains its trusted IT partner, supporting continued growth across Africa.