Energy Chamber members have directly invested at least $3.8 million in energy service trade missions in past four years. Eight member companies from the Energy Chamber of T&T took part in a recent energy services trade mission to Brazil, to coincide with the visit of the prime minister and other key ministers and officials to Brazil. Our mission was hosted by BG Brazil and facilitated by BG T&T: BG is the second largest investor in T&T and is one of the major investor into the enormous new "pre-salt" oil and gas developments in Brazil. Their support of the mission from the Energy Chamber was invaluable, and gave us access and insight that it would have been difficult to achieve otherwise. The companies from the Energy Chamber all currently supply goods and services to multi-nationals, such as BG, operating in T&T. The services represented on the mission spanned the whole array of services provided to the value chain, from drilling support services, through construction of offshore infrastructure, sub-sea services, operations and maintenance support and training, pipeline construction, water management services, and remediation of oily waste.
Building the T&T energy services brand
Charles Percy, president of the Energy Chamber and managing director of Methanex in T&T, also took part in the mission. Methanex is the world's biggest methanol producer and Trinidad represents their biggest manufacturing location. It is significant that energy service companies from T&T are increasingly able to use their good reputation with multi-nationals, such as Methanex and BG, as a springboard for entry into other markets. Derek Hudson, president of BG T&T, and Krysta de Lima, chief of staff of BG T&T, made presentations during key sessions and were able to speak about the ability of our companies and the strengths of the T&T energy sector. Having some of the major customers of our service companies present and able to attest to the ability of our members are a new and very positive development.
Experienced exporters
As the energy service companies on the mission all currently supply services to multinational operators, they are very aware of the high standards of safety, health, environment and quality service delivery that are required in the energy sector. Furthermore, the majority of companies taking part in the mission already have expertise in exporting energy and related services and are, therefore, very aware of the complexities involved in operating in different countries, with different legal systems and business relations. One of the members of the delegation has had existing operations in Brazil for the past 12 years. Others have worked in countries with reputations for being difficult places to do business, such as Nigeria. All of these companies have the ability to work in Brazil, once they can identify the right opportunities.
Private sector: leading the way
This is the third major out-going trade mission that the Energy Chamber has undertaken in the past year, with previous missions going to Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda in East Africa (August 2010) and to Ghana, just a few weeks ago. In the past four years, the Energy Chamber has also taken missions to Nigeria, Cuba, Guyana and Suriname, in addition to a previous visit to Ghana.Our membership has invested considerable time and money into these missions: as with the recent mission to Brazil, members of the Energy Chamber directly paid for the costs for these missions. The total direct investment made by members of the Energy Chamber in out-going energy service trade missions over the past four years is $ 3.8 million. We are competing with companies which get more Government support.
The Government of T&T has indirectly supported our outgoing trade missions, mainly through the facilitative roles played by the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the diplomatic missions in the target countries, and with some sponsorship from the Ministry of Trade and Industry for a few networking events. In contrast, most companies which our energy service companies compete against, in both the domestic market and our key export markets, receive considerable direct financial support from their governments to develop exports. This support ranges from direct grants for international travel and accommodation and sponsorship of booths and other facilities at international trade shows, through to cheap financing from export banks. It is notable that United States energy service companies are one of the biggest clients of the US Export Bank. Furthermore, many of our competitors are aided by the fact that project financing supplied through bilateral loans or development bank is often tied to buying goods and services from the host country.
Brazil: leadership from T&T's PM
This recent mission to Brazil was a departure from previous missions in that we received very valuable support from the prime minister and other key ministers of government. The presence of the prime minister and other ministers ensures a much higher profile for business delegates accompanying the mission. This is an approach that is used by many other countries, and many of the incoming missions that come to Trinidad are accompanied by government ministers. The presence of a prime minister or other senior government ministers builds confidence in our business community in the potential export market: it drives home the message that potential customers are dealing with companies who have the support of their government. It also builds confidence amongst potential exporters that they have the backing of their government. The Government involvement is especially important in the oil and gas sector, where host country governments and/or State-owned oil and gas companies play a crucial role.
The role of Petrobras
Brazil represents a huge potential market for T&T service companies. The most obvious thing to strike members of the delegation who took part in this first exploratory visit is the sheer scale of the opportunity in Brazil. The second very obvious thing to strike participants was the domination of Petrobras in both the market and setting the ground rules for involvement in Brazil. Petrobras is now ranked as one of the biggest oil and gas companies in the entire world and they are on a continued and rapid growth curve. While Petrobras is run with the profit-motives and business efficiencies of other international operating company, it is still a majority government-owned company. This means that bilateral political relations between Brazil and T&T provide an important component of the overall national approach that will be needed to facilitate the entry of T&T companies to Brazil. Our energy service companies will have to find niche markets within the booming Brazilian oil and gas sector, driven by Petrobras, but given the size of the opportunity, even a niche can be a significant opportunity.
Future trade missions
The Energy Chamber of T&T will continue to stress the need to export energy services as a key element of the country's diversification strategy. We are planning future trade missions, with return trips to many of the markets that we have previously visited, including Brazil. We believe that the new interest being shown by the Government in supporting our private sector companies in penetrating these markets will be sustained and that we will be able to work strategically with the prime minister and her Cabinet colleagues as we grow our new export markets.
For further information on exporting energy services and the Brazil trade mission, contact Priya Marajh at: priya@energy.tt