Georgetown: Mohamed Enterprise, has taken the bold step to answer the call for local content in the oil and gas sector with an infrastructural investment worth over $500M at Area MM McDoom.
At a simple ceremony recently the laydown yard was officially handed over by Shell Mohamed, proprietor of Mohamed Enterprise, to Falcon Logistics and NNP Capital Partners Ltd.
The facility, which is being leased to the new owners will become a holding place for pipes and other important equipment to be used by ExxonMobil.
In his brief remarks, Mohamed was quite grateful to all those who contributed to the success of the project.
He said, “Our country is sitting on enormous wealth. ExxonMobil will commence extraction of crude oil in the year 2020. The big question is, are we ready for that explosion? There is much talk about local content but how ready are we to satisfy the demands? Based on my discussions with people who are actively engaged in oil and gas, this sector demands massive infrastructure , houses, pipe yards, lay down facilities and all sorts of transportation facilities just to name a few.”
Mohamed added, “The critical question is, are we prepared to make that change in attitude. Training and discipline are essential to the development of this sector; our corporate and governmental culture needs to change quickly. Time means money. We cannot wait forever to get a permit approved or a simple document signed. If we don’t get our acts together, the local content element will be limited and the big businesses will remain in Trinidad.”
That said, the shrewd businessman said he was happy to be a partner in the project.
Expressing similar sentiments was CEO of Flacon Logistics, Marshall Mintz. He said that it is indeed, an attractive and prime real estate that was transformed into a significant piece of infrastructure to serve the oil and gas industry. Mintz said that the site is ideally located because 200 meters to the north is the Guyana Shore Base Inc. (GYBSI), a Guyanese joint venture. It is made up of Muneshwers Ltd., Pacific Rim Constructors, TotalTec Oilfield Services and LED Offshore. It was awarded a contract to provide shore base services to ExxonMobil offshore operations, and it will be responsible for the operation of a shore base facility at Muneshwers Limited Houston port.
Mintz said, “The capacity building that comes out of a
project like this is important. We at Falcon need to develop our capacity and
we need the land to do it. We have numerous financial partners both local and
foreign and we have always insisted on local content…We intend to become a
preferred supplier in the industry and we will try to be the best at it.”
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