Beyond the Rig

This week we welcome Mr Colin Bain the Managing Director and President of Methanex Corporation. He is a qualified chartered accountant and experienced energy industry professional who has performed in various business development and strategy, asset management and commercial operations roles. He has worked in the oil and gas industry in Trinidad since 2005 and has proven strengths in safety leadership, stakeholder management and strategic planning/delivery.

He has also held senior roles at Bp, BG, Shell in the past.

Beyond the Rig welcomes Ms Hafsah Ali, Upstream Production Unit Manager at Shell Trinidad and Tobago Limited.

In this episode we have a conversation with Hafsah on her journey in the sector, skills for energy transition, and work life balance.

Hafsah is a process engineer by discipline with 6 years downstream experience at an Ammonia Complex and 13 years Upstream Oil and Gas experience. She has held process engineering roles within multidisciplinary engineering teams and within frontline support teams. In 2014 she branched out into technical safety and have served as the Technical Safety Technical Authority (TA2) and the Process & Technical Safety Manager in Upstream Operations team at Shell Trinidad & Tobago Ltd. Her passion for operations and operational excellence has led to her new role as Shell's Production Unit Manager in March 2020.

This week Beyond the Rig welcomes Philip Julien, Managing Director of Kenesjay Green Limited. Phillip is most notably known for these days as one of the faces leading the green hydrogen revolution in Trinidad and Tobago. In this episode we have a chat about his journey and advice he can offer young professionals looking to bring clean energy technologies in the Caribbean region.

In 2020, Mr. Julien led the development of Kenesjay Green Limited (KGL), taking the helm of this pioneering entity in the energy transition industry, to establish renewable and low carbon-based energy projects for Trinidad and Tobago and the Region. The NewGen Clean Hydrogen Production Project is his first major undertaking under the KGL brand. Philip Julien is also the Founder of the Heroes Foundation – a registered not-for-profit non-governmental organization which was established in 2002, to “Create the Next Generation of Heroes”.

Phillip was born and raised in Trinidad, and continued his tertiary education in Canada, graduating in 1993 from McGill University in Montreal Canada, with a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering and a Minor in Environmental Engineering. After working in the Canadian engineering consulting sector, he returned to Trinidad in 2001, and since then has been integrally involved in project development and consulting activities in the local energy sector. After serving for five years as the Location Director for WorleyParsons in Trinidad, he assumed the role as Managing Director of Kenesjay Systems Limited before starting KGL in 2020.

This week Beyond the Rig is pleased to have Lawrence Arjoon - CEO of the Heroes Foundation.

With a history of creativity, and innovation and strategic branding in the energy sector, he represents the new generation of young leaders who are driven to reinterpret our future through the lens of a common good. His work with Civic Society Organisations over the years is marked with a keen sensitivity to diversity and inclusion and a deep commitment to a sustainable future for all peoples.

In this episode Lawrence provided insight into his journey, what to expect from the Heroes Foundation and inspirational advice those seeking to follow a similar path.

Prior to joining Heroes, Lawrence held the position of Government and Stakeholder Affairs Advisor at the Proman family of companies. Prior to this he served as Corporate and External Affairs Manager at DeNovo Energy Limited.  As part of DeNovo’s founding team, Lawrence was pivotal in launching and establishing DeNovo’s brand on an international level and maintaining key external relationships locally and globally.

On this episode of Beyond the Rig we have a chat with James Walker, a senior executive at Heritage Petroleum Company Limited, the National Oil Company of Trinidad and Tobago where he leads business development and joint ventures. 

Prior to joining Heritage, he was a consultant at McKinsey & Company based in London and Panama and worked in a range of sectors around the world focusing mainly on strategy, marketing and trading, transactions and operations. Prior to McKinsey he worked for several years in commercial and environmental roles at BP. He also founded an ran a social enterprise focused on youth leadership and volunteering called Marti Expeditions building off his time working in a similar role at National Geographic. He is a kaiso writer and singer in his spare time and performed for several years at the London Calypso Tent.

In this episode we have a chat with Shaun Rampersad COO of Ramps Logistics. Ramps logistics recently was awarded by the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce in 20202 the Business Award for the " Internationally Known T&T Owned Company of the Year".

 Topics covered included: Ramps journey, skillsets for the future, the importance of technology for scaling businesses and promoting the Trinidad and Tobago brand.

Shaun has a BSc in Industrial Engineering at UWI and an MBA from the Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business. 

Formed in 1985 by Ramnarine Rampersad as a customs brokerage provider, the company employed just 1 person. By 2000, the company began offering freight forwarding services, with an increased employee base of 12 and partnering with major shipping lines to bring cargo to and from Trinidad. Now in 2020 Ramps logistics has a presence in Miami, Guyana, Suriname, Houston, Mexico and Columbia with more new territories to come in the very near future, employing more than 500 people who call RAMPS their second home.

Giselle Thompson is the Vice President Corporate Operations for bp Trinidad and Tobago. In this role she holds accountability for the corporate of Communications and Advocacy, Ethics and Compliance, Facilities and Management Services, Security and Integrated Risk Management. In addition to this portfolio, she is also our low carbon sponsor for the bpTT Leadership Team.

Giselle is responsible for the management of the company’s external facing strategy and reputation. On this episode she offers advice on how young professionals can be more impactful within the industry.

In honor of CARICOM Energy Month we have Dr Dale Ramlakhan providing insight about the Energy Chamber - EE&AE Committee, Indicating his top 3 highlights from the 2020 Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Conference in Trinidad and Tobago and, offering advice on how young professionals can be more influential.

Dr. Dale Ramlakhan is an experienced Engineering Professional and thought leader with a demonstrated history of working in the utilities industry. Skilled in Asset Management, Strategic Planning, Reliability Engineering, Maintenance Management, Asset Performance and Health Monitoring, Renewable Energy and Data Integration.

Dr. Ramlakhan graduated with a PhD. degree in Mechanical Engineering in the area of Renewable Energy in 2011 and is the current Chairman of the Energy Efficiency and Alternate Energy (EE&AE) Committee – Sub Committee of the Council of the Energy Chamber and a member of the Institute of Asset Management.

In episode 02 of Beyond the Rig we spoke with Dr Thackwray "Dax" Driver, the Chief Executive Officer of the Energy Chamber of Trinidad & Tobago since 2003. He has pioneered numerous new initiatives and activities for the Energy Chamber, including the Safe to Work programme and the Learning Centre.

He is the current Chair of the Caribbean Chambers Network.

He was previously the Chairman of the Trinidad & Tobago Economic Development Board and has been a Board member of the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Services Industries, the University of Trinidad & Tobago and T&T Natural Gas Liquids Ltd. Prior to joining the Energy Chamber, he was the coordinator of Trinidad and Tobago’s Agricultural Sector Reform Programme. He has a Ph.D. in history from the University of London.

In episode 01 of Beyond the Rig we spoke with Mr. Mark Loquan, President of The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC). Mr. Mark Loquan is a Chemical Engineer by profession with over 30 years’ experience in the petrochemical industry. He was appointed President of The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) in September 2016 and was appointed Director on the Board of NGC in July 2019. He provided insights on his journey thus far in the evolving energy industry, and  his thoughts on how young professionals can become better equipped for an industry challenged by 3Cs – Climate Change, COVID19 and Carbon. We hope you enjoy this one as much as we did.

On this episode of Beyond the Rig we have a chat with Joel Pemberton Former MD of DeNovo.

Joel ‘Monty’ Pemberton is the Founder and Former Managing Director of DeNovo Energy Limited, Trinidad and Tobago’s first local upstream natural gas producer. DeNovo is part of the Proman family of companies.  A Chartered Accountant by profession, Monty has spent the last twenty years consistently delivering results in leadership roles within the global Energy Sector.  He is also the Chairman of the Heroes Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago.

Monty has gained a reputation for leveraging his financial acumen and innate entrepreneurial skills to enable and deliver successful oil and gas exploration and development projects.  He has raised over USD 400 million in the last ten years to invest in onshore and offshore ventures in Trinidad and Tobago, and is the first Trinidadian to successfully list a local company on the London Stock Exchange.

Passionate about education and the potential from digital transformation, Monty is keen to see a modernised, collaborative and progressive approach to education delivery that develops local talent for a global market.  He understands the need for diversification, and believes that the knowledge and expertise of the energy industry can be leveraged to transform attitudes towards learning, heighten the application of critical thinking to overcome challenges, and help propel Trinidad and Tobago towards a more sustainable future.