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Joshua
Hodgson trade commissioner at the Canadian High Commission,
left, speaks to Roger Packer managing director of Tucker
Energy Services following Packer’s presentation at
the seventh annual Energy Caribbean conference 2007. The
two-day conference ended yesterday at the Trinidad Hilton
and Conference Centre, Lady Young Road, St Ann’s. Photo:
Sean Nero
By
Raphael John Lall
There are business opportunities for local energy companies
which are well positioned to expand their services internationally,
says Roger Packer managing director of Tucker Energy Services.
However, “Going international is not for the faint-hearted,”
Parker said.
He said that in today’s competitive world the odds
are stacked against a small company from the Caribbean.
“Today
our international operations are larger than our Trinidad
operation,” Packer said.
“In
Canada we employ around 200 employees,” he said.
Apart from Canada, Tucker Energy Services has divisions
in the United States, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.
Tucker said his family-owned company, which was started
in 1935, has done so well that it is considering expanding
into the Middle East.
“We’ve
been encouraged to go to the Far East so that is our next
intention,” he said.
Packer made the comments during a presentation at the seventh
annual Energy Caribbean conference 2007. The two-day conference
ended yesterday at the Trinidad Hilton and Conference Centre,
Lady Young Road, St Anns.
Tucker Energy Services provides four types of services:
pumping, completions, drilling and wireline services.
Despite the company’s successes he said that there
were challenges that it faced as a small company from a
small region. He advised local energy companies which want
to expand outside the region to make sure they are adequately
financed before beginning their expansion.
He said that Tucker Energy Services is financed locally
which reflects the strength of the local financial sector.
“We’ve
sourced all our finances locally and they’ve supported
us through thick and thin,” he said.
Another challenge that local companies face abroad is not
having a recognisable brand name like the big international
players such as Schlumberger.
He said that the only way to deal with such problems is
to build confidence in clients by being professional and
efficient.
“We
are known in international markets for getting the work
done,” he said.
Packer also advised local companies to understand the culture
and political system of the country in which they plan to
establish operations.
Using Venezuela as an example, he said after winning a contract
the company was obliged to build a kindergarten as part
of a social contract that was governed by law.
Despite such challenges, he said T&T-based companies
do have advantages which can give them the competitive edge.
Packer said that T&T is an English speaking country
and English is the language of international business.
He said that another advantage Trinidadian s have is that
they easily adapt to whatever culture they are introduced
to. He said this is very important in a globalised world.
Packer said that one advantage that has worked for his company
is that it has emphasised development of its human resources.
“We
focus on on-the-job training and we’ve written our
own training programmes,” he said.
He said that a highly trained workforce is necessary to
compete with the rest of the world.
Packer said that through trial and error Tucker Energy Services
has been successful for nearly three quarters of a century.
“We’ve
had to stand-up on our own two feet and learn the hard way,”
he said.
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