Issue 3, 2010 - BP

Issue 3, 2010 - BP Issue 3, 2010 - BP

<strong>Issue</strong> 3, <strong>2010</strong>


Editor’s Note<br />

<strong>BP</strong> employees around the world have experienced an interesting and<br />

challenging few months since the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) incident in April.<br />

For some, it was business as usual as staff demonstrated unwavering<br />

commitment to delivering strong business results despite the challenges<br />

being experienced in the US; while others joined the response to<br />

support <strong>BP</strong>’s cleanup and containment efforts. A group of 29 <strong>BP</strong> Trinidad<br />

and Tobago (bpTT) employees, were among those who joined the<br />

response. Twenty-three of the 29 employees who contributed to the<br />

unprecedented response were nationals of Trinidad and Tobago.<br />

I trust that as you read these articles on our support for the GoM<br />

response, you will feel proud that the expertise of Trinidad and Tobago<br />

nationals was sought and called upon by the <strong>BP</strong> group for support in<br />

managing this incident.<br />

In reading this issue, you will learn that interest in the country’s energy<br />

industry is far from waning and by no means limited to politicians and<br />

businessmen, but extends to the children of bpTT staff, and teenagers<br />

from five underprivileged homes who were invited to spend a day at<br />

work with bpTT, learning about our business and career opportunities in<br />

the energy industry.<br />

This interest also extended to our country’s reporters and chambers,<br />

who attended bpTT’s <strong>2010</strong> Energy Media Fundamentals programme<br />

over a five-week period between June and July.<br />

Interest in the role that bpTT plays in Trinidad and Tobago’s energy story<br />

as told through the company’s ‘Where there’s energy, there’s bpTT!’<br />

advertising campaign, rivaled other Caribbean and US companies, taking<br />

home several gold and silver American Advertising Federation ADDY<br />

Awards at the regional and US levels – another signal that interest in the<br />

energy story is alive and well.<br />

While highlighting the strong interest in energy among various groups,<br />

this issue also shares insights into one of the more ‘covert’ operations<br />

at bpTT, introducing you to the faces of bpTT’s security, risk, crisis and<br />

disaster management team who work tirelessly to protect the company<br />

and mitigate security risks.<br />

In reading this third issue of <strong>2010</strong>, I continue to be impressed and<br />

humbled by the passion and dedication of my colleagues who in the face<br />

of challenges, maintain their drive and focus on the opportunities ahead.<br />

This issue’s lead story on our base management team, is one such<br />

group that is focused on positioning the company to meet its demands<br />

today and into the future.<br />

As always we welcome your feedback and suggestions for future<br />

editions. You can reach us at bpttempcomm@bp.com.<br />

2<br />

<strong>Issue</strong> 3, <strong>2010</strong><br />

Cover:<br />

Members of bpTT’s base management<br />

team: from left, Terence Ramnarine,<br />

Kathy Baillie and Annessa Ramdial<br />

Photo courtesy Marlon Rouse<br />

<strong>BP</strong>TT’s Production Team:<br />

Editor, Danielle Bailey<br />

Production Manager, Melissa Young<br />

Editorial Consultant, Frank Arlen<br />

Production Assistant,<br />

Janelle Pascall<br />

Editorial & production:<br />

Mirissa De Four<br />

Media & Editorial Projects (MEP) Ltd<br />

Design & layout:<br />

Ariann Thompson<br />

Aisha Provoteaux<br />

Media & Editorial Projects (MEP) Ltd<br />

Prepress & printing:<br />

Caribbean Paper & Printed Products<br />

(1993) Ltd<br />

© <strong>BP</strong> Trinidad and Tobago, <strong>2010</strong><br />

<strong>BP</strong>TT Insider magazine is a publication<br />

of the Communications Team,<br />

Communications and External<br />

Affairs, <strong>BP</strong> Trinidad and Tobago. For<br />

more information please contact the<br />

Communications Manager, Danielle<br />

Bailey, at (868) 623-2862.<br />

NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION<br />

MAY BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT<br />

THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE<br />

PUBLISHER OR AGENT.


4 From the CEO<br />

BUSINESS<br />

6 <strong>BP</strong>TT’s new base<br />

management team boosts<br />

gas production<br />

8 Chambers join business<br />

journalists in media energy<br />

training<br />

9 Where there’s energy, there’s<br />

bpTT!<br />

10 <strong>BP</strong>TT employees at the<br />

frontline in the Gulf of Mexico<br />

11 <strong>BP</strong>TT engineer awarded US<br />

Coast Guard merit token<br />

12 <strong>BP</strong>’s chief economist brings<br />

‘<strong>BP</strong>’s Statistical Review of<br />

World Energy’ to Trinidad<br />

and Tobago<br />

13 Seven local teams achieve<br />

commended status in Helios<br />

awards<br />

14 ‘Bring Your Kids to Work’ day;<br />

Finance career fair; ‘Race 4<br />

Your Cause’<br />

PEOPLE<br />

16 <strong>BP</strong>TT’s security team at<br />

the forefront of corporate<br />

security, risk, crisis and<br />

disaster management<br />

CORPORATE SOCIAL<br />

RESPONSIBILITY<br />

18 <strong>BP</strong>TT invests in the future of<br />

youth and steelpan<br />

19 <strong>BP</strong>TT and Renegades renew<br />

partnership<br />

20 ‘Tracing Footprints’ of<br />

Charlotteville’s history<br />

Contents<br />

<strong>Issue</strong> 3, <strong>2010</strong><br />

COMMUNITY<br />

21 Mayaro takes environmental<br />

awareness to a new level<br />

22 <strong>BP</strong>TT joins volunteers in<br />

government’s ‘clean and<br />

beautify’ effort<br />

15<br />

23 <strong>BP</strong>TT-sponsored night cricket<br />

completes 10 successful years<br />

3<br />

16


FROM<br />

THE CEO<br />

Is this a shift from<br />

gladiator-style<br />

politics to humane<br />

governance?<br />

Some time has elapsed since Trinidad and Tobago elected<br />

its first woman prime minister in May this year, but this<br />

is my first opportunity to express some thoughts publicly<br />

about that historic election and the phenomenal outcome.<br />

Let me be very clear from the outset: my comments<br />

in this column have nothing to do with party politics or<br />

with the merits of the United National Congress over<br />

the People’s National Movement or the performance,<br />

non-performance or governance by the elements that<br />

constitute the People’s Partnership. I am not concerned<br />

in this column with the value or merits of any one<br />

political party over the other.<br />

The truth is, if our new prime minister were Penelope<br />

Beckles or Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, for example,<br />

I would have been similarly impressed by the<br />

achievement and therefore driven to examine the<br />

phenomenon from a non-partisan gender perspective.<br />

I have what you may describe as an overwhelming<br />

interest in the rapid ascendancy of women in Trinidad<br />

and Tobago’s landscape. We have just voted our first<br />

female prime minister into office a ‘mere’ 64 years<br />

after women first won the right to vote in national<br />

elections in this country and some 60 years after they<br />

4<br />

also earned the right to contest as candidates in national<br />

or local government elections. I say ‘mere’, but the truth<br />

of it is that on the basis of merit and pure performance<br />

it is surprising this did not happen earlier.<br />

Perhaps my interest in this subject is sparked by the<br />

fact that I am the father of two daughters – two young<br />

women who are at that precarious stage of life when<br />

they may soon be leaving the comfort and assurance of<br />

their parents’ home to make their own way in the world.<br />

I am concerned in this column, however, with the role<br />

of women in the creation and growth of a new Trinidad<br />

and Tobago society through their participation not just in<br />

politics, but in the complete economic and social life of<br />

this country.<br />

But I may be getting a little ahead of myself here. Before<br />

I proceed with an essentially fleeting analysis of what this<br />

triumph may mean for the future of this country, allow<br />

me firstly to congratulate our new prime minister on her<br />

tremendous historic achievement. I see it as a critical<br />

development on the chessboard of Caribbean politics and<br />

the fulfilment of an inevitable role for women in terms<br />

of leadership in the Caribbean. I must at the same time<br />

congratulate the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the<br />

electorate, that is, on what appears to me to be a newfound<br />

political maturity in its decision to elect a woman<br />

as our prime minister.<br />

Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s successful invasion of a<br />

province that hitherto was exclusively a masculine<br />

preserve at this critical juncture in our development, is<br />

remarkable, more so when you consider the enduring<br />

male political icons she had to displace and the other,<br />

less developed political icons she had to manage on her<br />

way to prime ministership.<br />

We have certainly reached a new threshold in Trinidad<br />

and Tobago and I am not sure the population has yet<br />

realized how deeply significant the change is. And such<br />

changes have not just been occurring in politics. Even<br />

in the petroleum business of which I am a part, and<br />

which was previously dominated by men, the industry is<br />

gradually making way for more and more women in every<br />

field, from commercial to technical. We have a lot more<br />

young females in our business. They seem to be our best<br />

commercial people. But it does not stop there. There is<br />

already a growing, welcome and considerable presence<br />

of women in the geosciences, technical and engineering<br />

fields in our business.<br />

The truth is, we have for too long underestimated the<br />

role of women in society. To better understand the<br />

increasing importance of women in politics, business,<br />

industry and the public service, I consulted the work of<br />

a few leading Caribbean scholars in the fields of gender<br />

studies and social behaviour.<br />

One of the fundamental discoveries I grasped from<br />

their research is that even though we continue to be<br />

a highly matriarchal society, men have consistently


underestimated women and<br />

trivialized their contribution to the<br />

development of society, particularly<br />

in leadership roles.<br />

Some of the research demonstrated<br />

that the way we prepare young<br />

people at home for life may<br />

have something to do with the<br />

ascendancy of women in this<br />

modern society. The roles of young<br />

men have been severely diminished<br />

from what was traditional and the<br />

roles of women have remained<br />

the same, and, in some instances,<br />

have been enriched. Women have<br />

continued to grow up with the<br />

expectation that they must play a<br />

very active role in the household.<br />

They still do today. Whereas, as we<br />

become more urbanized, boys are<br />

no longer required to go and fetch<br />

the water, they no longer have to<br />

go to the shop, they no longer have<br />

to go to tie the goat or the bull, and<br />

so young men are growing up doing<br />

absolutely nothing in the household<br />

by and large. On the other hand we<br />

still have women who are coming<br />

on to the job market knowing how<br />

to multitask because it was part of<br />

their developmental process. They<br />

have been able to successfully add<br />

education to their list of daily chores.<br />

Nothing has been subtracted and so<br />

they come out far better, far more<br />

work-worthy, far more useful, and<br />

today they are performing the role of<br />

taking care of their men and so there<br />

is this reversal of roles.<br />

Should we therefore really be<br />

surprised by women’s increasing<br />

success in the workplace and in<br />

politics?<br />

In recent Caribbean history women<br />

have progressed rapidly through<br />

education. This has now opened up<br />

a new world for them. Some of the<br />

barriers that used to exist against<br />

their progress in the corporate world<br />

and in politics have been removed.<br />

It was just inevitable that a woman<br />

would break through to the highest<br />

political office in the country.<br />

Another point is that for a number<br />

of reasons men have tended to<br />

underestimate women in leadership<br />

roles across the country. I think that<br />

it comes from a misunderstanding<br />

of the emerging capability, which<br />

has a huge historical basis in the<br />

Caribbean. As I said earlier, we<br />

are a matriarchal society. Women<br />

have basically organized and run<br />

our homes, and through formal<br />

education they have extended<br />

their reach and are now taking new<br />

stages. I think that this is a process<br />

which is likely to deepen and extend.<br />

Judging from some public reaction<br />

I have been hearing, and several<br />

‘congratulatory’ letters written<br />

in the press, a lot of men have<br />

given full credit to the male<br />

gladiatorial elements of the People’s<br />

Partnership for Persad-Bissessar’s<br />

political success. I challenge that.<br />

I don’t see it that way. Persad-<br />

Bissessar was the architect of her<br />

own political success.<br />

So when I hear people saying they<br />

wonder how the prime minister<br />

will cope with those men, I see<br />

absolutely no problem. It is a matter<br />

of style. She has not adopted<br />

that male-oriented winner-take-all<br />

mentality of the old politics. She<br />

has taken the opportunity, in a<br />

highly polarized society, not to go<br />

at those things which divide but to<br />

go at those things which unite and<br />

to bring a humane, personal, and<br />

truly feminine touch to governance.<br />

I think her style is unique. In other<br />

words her first move is not to fight.<br />

Her first salvo is that she is willing<br />

to offer the olive branch and to offer<br />

opportunities for reconciliation.<br />

You continue to hear comments<br />

in the corridors that seem to say<br />

the men around her are really<br />

the leaders and not the woman.<br />

Some of those comments are<br />

still being made now, but I think<br />

it is as a result of a genuine<br />

misunderstanding of the way<br />

in which women generally are<br />

predisposed to leading.<br />

People are reading her actions<br />

as pure public relations in the<br />

political arena simply because<br />

they contrast with what we have<br />

been accustomed to. It is not that.<br />

It is innate feminine behaviour<br />

and this should not be misread as<br />

weakness. We ought to be very<br />

careful about that.<br />

I happen to think that this is a very<br />

important step in the right direction<br />

for leadership in the Caribbean.<br />

The truth is, I believe that female<br />

leadership will be part of political<br />

life in the Caribbean for a very long<br />

time. I think that the emergence of<br />

women, not only in everyday life<br />

but now in the highest offices of<br />

leadership in the land, offers a great<br />

opportunity for the future of the<br />

Caribbean.<br />

It now remains to be seen how<br />

men will actually adjust and work<br />

with a female leader. I think it will<br />

be challenging, but if we can make<br />

it work, we will be adding a vital<br />

resource that has taken too long to<br />

be added to the quiver of leadership<br />

capability in the country.<br />

The conclusions in this article<br />

are my own but I would like to<br />

acknowledge references to the<br />

following work in the course of<br />

preparing this article:<br />

Rhoda Reddock: (1) Reflections<br />

on Gender and Democracy in the<br />

Anglophone Caribbean: Historical<br />

and Contemporary Considerations;<br />

(2) Interrogating Caribbean<br />

Masculinities.<br />

Mark Figueroa: Male<br />

Privileging and Male “Academic<br />

Underperformance” in Jamaica.<br />

Linda Claudia de Four &<br />

Gwendoline Williams: Gender<br />

and Management Cases from the<br />

Caribbean.<br />

Ofelia Gomez de Estrada &<br />

Rhoda Reddock: New Trends in the<br />

Internationalisation of Production:<br />

Implications for Female Workers.<br />

5


6<br />

BUSINESS<br />

UPDATE<br />

<strong>BP</strong>TT’S NEw BASE MANAgEMENT TEAM<br />

boosts gas production<br />

ABOVE: <strong>BP</strong>TT’s new base<br />

management team<br />

<strong>BP</strong> Trinidad and Tobago<br />

(bpTT) has created a new<br />

special purpose team to<br />

ensure that the company<br />

will meet all its gas<br />

delivery commitments – both for the<br />

short term and long term.<br />

The new team, designated as a<br />

‘base management team’, has<br />

been installed within the company’s<br />

resource function. This squad has<br />

already made an impact on improving<br />

the company’s gas production profile<br />

and promises even greater dividends<br />

in the very near future.<br />

The resource function, which is also<br />

a new entity on bpTT’s organization<br />

chart, was created out of what was<br />

formerly the renewal unit, prior<br />

to which it was the exploration<br />

department. The new resource team<br />

however, has an expanded reach that<br />

now includes reservoir management,<br />

the delivery of new wells,<br />

exploration, information technology<br />

and services.<br />

<strong>BP</strong>TT has a production target of<br />

approximately 450,000 barrels of oil<br />

equivalent a day (boed). The fact that<br />

a number of bpTT’s current wells are<br />

shut-in presents an opportunity to<br />

understand why the wells are shutin<br />

and the production and reserve<br />

potential that remains in each of<br />

those wells. This can manifest itself in<br />

a huge prize of very efficient work that<br />

adds to the bpTT goal of sustaining its


target production over the long term.<br />

The work that will be done by this<br />

team and the processes set up will<br />

bode well for a sustainable business<br />

and the increasing importance of base<br />

management cannot be understated<br />

as they find ways to incrementally add<br />

production and deplete the resources<br />

in each well as efficiently as possible.<br />

The team brings together a<br />

range of skills, including reservoir<br />

engineering, petroleum engineering<br />

and production management.<br />

Before the team was created,<br />

the disciplines were managed by<br />

different areas of the business.<br />

As base management now sits in<br />

resource, the diverse strengths of<br />

the individuals give the team the<br />

holistic approach that is needed<br />

to effectively manage bpTT’s<br />

hydrocarbon resources in the<br />

Columbus Basin.<br />

“It’s about understanding the<br />

story of the reservoir based on the<br />

evidence we have,” says reservoir<br />

engineer Iannie Roopa. Roopa and<br />

fellow reservoir engineer Kathy<br />

Baillie help the team by providing<br />

a link between geoscience and<br />

petroleum engineering. “We act<br />

as the link between geoscience,<br />

which isn’t exactly part of base<br />

management, and the petroleum<br />

engineering side. It’s the link<br />

between the subsurface and<br />

the surface,” Baillie explains.<br />

“Base management acts as a<br />

connector working with several<br />

other functional teams to deliver<br />

production by managing the existing<br />

wells, the base and identifying<br />

new opportunities in existing wells<br />

through wellwork.”<br />

The team members’ different skills<br />

lead to an integrated view on how<br />

best to manage bpTT’s resource base.<br />

For petroleum engineer Wade<br />

Whittier, the focus is on<br />

understanding the opportunities to<br />

add to production from the existing<br />

well stock. “It is important that<br />

petroleum engineers understand<br />

the well stock, that you understand<br />

the potential and deliverability of<br />

the wells in order to meet whatever<br />

targets we have,” he states.<br />

For Nalini Mahabirsingh, production<br />

optimization lead, the focus is on<br />

understanding the production data<br />

to be able to provide forecasts<br />

and ensure the business fulfils<br />

its production targets. The base<br />

management team provides short-<br />

and medium-term forecasts and<br />

works with external partners to<br />

take advantage of opportunities<br />

for increased sales. “It’s<br />

about identifying the risks and<br />

opportunities in meeting demand.<br />

That’s where the integration with<br />

the base management team adds<br />

value,” she says. Mahabirsingh<br />

depends on the data provided by<br />

reservoir engineers like Baillie and<br />

Roopa to create forecasts.<br />

For the long-term outlook, the<br />

team has recently moved to a<br />

new software programme called<br />

Wellspring and is leading <strong>BP</strong> in<br />

implementing this tool to allow<br />

for improved scenario planning.<br />

This is all part of the base<br />

management effort to look ahead<br />

and create the opportunities for the<br />

business to build and sustain its<br />

production profile.<br />

The base management team<br />

is charged with carrying out<br />

surveillance on existing wells and<br />

identifying ways to bring nonperforming<br />

wells back online. The<br />

team identifies opportunities that<br />

do not always involve rig work. One<br />

of the tools now being used is a<br />

production hopper to bring all such<br />

opportunities together to understand<br />

the bigger picture in terms of gas<br />

deliverability. The hopper will allow<br />

the business to adapt quickly to<br />

changes. According to petroleum<br />

engineer Varoon Samlal: “To get to<br />

that point requires building the story<br />

and this is what we aim to do.”<br />

Whether it is forecasting or ensuring<br />

deliverability, the team unanimously<br />

agrees that the new approach<br />

will have a positive impact on<br />

the business. Over the past few<br />

years the business has focused on<br />

bringing on new fields. “In an effort<br />

to improve efficiency in how we<br />

produce the resources we need, we<br />

now focus on existing well stock and<br />

look for opportunities there,” explains<br />

Whittier. The team has a target to<br />

bring 19 shut-in wells back into<br />

production this year.<br />

For producing wells, those<br />

opportunities include reducing the<br />

pressure or lifting water out to<br />

extend the life of the well. <strong>BP</strong>TT’s<br />

Mahogany team is using <strong>BP</strong>’s<br />

experience in the North Sea to solve<br />

the problem, using detergent to<br />

generate foam and help lift out the<br />

excess water. A trial is planned for<br />

the latter part of the year on three<br />

wells and could deliver 30,000<br />

standard cubic feet a day (scfd).<br />

“All of these things are little<br />

additions,” says Roopa. “They add<br />

5,000 scfd or 10,000 scfd, all these<br />

things that you can barely even<br />

measure on their own, but when<br />

you add them up they can make a<br />

difference. If you take 10 wells you<br />

can add 50,000 scfd. That might<br />

cost US$1.5 million to US$2 million,<br />

versus approximately US$50 million<br />

for a new well.”<br />

So overall, it adds up, and the<br />

base management team is off to a<br />

good start with their task of managing<br />

and maximizing bpTT’s resource base<br />

to ensure that the business continues<br />

to meet the production demands of<br />

the company and the country.<br />

7


Representatives of the<br />

Trinidad and Tobago<br />

Chamber of Industry<br />

and Commerce and the<br />

American Chamber of<br />

Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago<br />

joined business journalists for<br />

the first time this year in the <strong>BP</strong><br />

Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT) and the<br />

University of Trinidad and Tobago’s<br />

(UTT) media energy training<br />

programme.<br />

The ‘Energy Media Fundamentals’<br />

programme, which catered for 12<br />

people, comprised four modules<br />

and was held in June and July. The<br />

modules included basic geology,<br />

reserves to production planning, the<br />

natural gas value chain and current<br />

and emerging issues affecting the<br />

local industry.<br />

This year’s programme catered<br />

for first-time participants and also<br />

served as a refresher for some<br />

journalists.<br />

8<br />

Chambers join business journalists in<br />

MEdIA ENERgY TRAININg<br />

Over 30 journalists have benefited<br />

from the programme since it was<br />

initiated in 2006. Commenting<br />

on this year’s training, assistant<br />

vice-president, UTT, Zameer<br />

Mohammed, said that on the basis<br />

of feedback from participants and<br />

media managers, both the content<br />

and structure have been continually<br />

amended each year to keep pace<br />

with developments in the local<br />

energy sector and journalists’ needs.<br />

He pointed out that the module on<br />

reserves to production, for example,<br />

was added to enable participants<br />

to understand the issues that<br />

accompany the results of the Ryder<br />

Scott natural gas audit.<br />

Giselle Thompson, bpTT’s vicepresident,<br />

communications and<br />

external affairs, hinted in her<br />

remarks at the formal opening of<br />

the training programme that there<br />

would be changes in the format for<br />

future programmes. She stated:<br />

“The bpTT/UTT energy training<br />

programme has done a great deal<br />

to deliver the basics. Our next step<br />

would be to develop the discussion<br />

on issues like reserves to production<br />

and the national fiscal regime.”<br />

For journalist Raphael John Lall, the<br />

programme was valuable because it<br />

gave a good overview of the sector<br />

within a short space of time. Lall had<br />

previously attended the programme.<br />

“It was very concise. There was a<br />

lot of information encapsulated into a<br />

five-week period and that was good.<br />

The programme touched on all the<br />

main points and connected all the<br />

dots,” he said.<br />

ABOVE: Participants in the media energy<br />

training programme


ABOVE: Danielle Bailey, corporate communications manager, bpTT (centre) with members of the McCann Erickson team<br />

wHERE THERE’S ENERgY,<br />

THERE’S <strong>BP</strong>TT!<br />

It was in November 2009 that bpTT and its then newly-appointed<br />

advertising agency, McCann Erickson launched a new corporate<br />

advertising campaign for bpTT. The tagline? ‘Where there’s energy,<br />

there’s bpTT!’ This new and fresh campaign saw TV, radio and press<br />

advertisements with a distinct and authentic flavour of local culture. And<br />

since then, the campaign has been deemed a success on many fronts.<br />

It was able to deepen the company’s connection with the public, sharing<br />

information about bpTT’s long-term commitment to the nation and the positive<br />

impact of its many corporate responsibility programmes. The campaign also<br />

deepened employee pride and was well received internally. What made the<br />

campaign even more distinctive is that it was able to visibly share bpTT’s story,<br />

all with a limited advertising budget for the 2009-<strong>2010</strong> period.<br />

In March more good news came. The campaign gained international<br />

acclaim, copping both gold and silver at the American Advertising<br />

Federation’s ADDY awards. Despite keen competition from scores of<br />

campaigns across the Caribbean and North America, bpTT’s campaign<br />

received seven awards (see box).<br />

Gold<br />

Corporate television commercial<br />

Corporate overall campaign<br />

Corporate jingle (for sound)<br />

Corporate jingle (for music with lyrics)<br />

Poster (for end-of-year function)<br />

Silver<br />

Independence Day advertisement<br />

End-of-year function announcement of<br />

their achievements<br />

9


<strong>BP</strong>TT EMPLOYEES AT THE fRONTLINE<br />

in the Gulf of Mexico<br />

For many citizens of Trinidad<br />

and Tobago, the oil spill in the<br />

Gulf of Mexico (GoM) may<br />

seem far away. But the GoM<br />

incident has been of rather close<br />

concern to all bpTT employees<br />

since the fatal explosion that took<br />

place in April.<br />

It was even more so for a select<br />

group of 29 bpTT employees who<br />

were called out to be part of the<br />

frontline response to the crisis<br />

in the Gulf. Very early in May, it<br />

became evident to the <strong>BP</strong> group<br />

that the response would require<br />

contributions from <strong>BP</strong> businesses<br />

worldwide and calls were made to<br />

bpTT for personnel to support the<br />

clean-up and containment efforts.<br />

One of the first nationals to be<br />

assigned to the Gulf was Reginald<br />

Williams, bpTT’s marine authority,<br />

who provided marine and logistics<br />

support to the Spill Response<br />

Centre in Houma, Louisiana, the<br />

Crisis Centre in Houston and the<br />

10<br />

Unified Incident Command Centre<br />

in Alabama. Joining Williams in the<br />

US soon after was Tyrone Kalpee,<br />

bpTT’s vice-president, HSSE and<br />

engineering. Kalpee was initially<br />

based in Houston and assisted<br />

with the group-led health, safety<br />

and environment (HSE) technical<br />

co-ordination team and worked<br />

with the unified area command<br />

managing long-term HSE risks for<br />

the business.<br />

Kalpee told the Insider how proud<br />

he was of staff members who<br />

contributed to the response: “The<br />

work of the bpTT staff who served<br />

and continue to serve with <strong>BP</strong>’s<br />

response has made us all proud.<br />

The Trinidad business’s support<br />

has been much appreciated by<br />

our colleagues in the wider <strong>BP</strong><br />

group. The emergency assumed an<br />

unprecedented scale. Being a part<br />

of this has been a unique learning<br />

experience for those directly<br />

involved. It is also important to note<br />

that the Trinidad business was not<br />

Listed in alphabetical order are bpTT personnel who<br />

were involved in <strong>BP</strong>’s clean-up and containment effort<br />

in the Gulf of Mexico:<br />

Allan Subero<br />

Andrew Briggs<br />

Anthony Mathura<br />

Bernadette Coney<br />

Chan Boodhai<br />

Chantal Lalla-Maharaj<br />

Dave Christensen<br />

Deenesh Persad<br />

Greg Evernden<br />

Heath Romeo<br />

Imran Mohammed<br />

Jose Gonzalez<br />

Karen Ragoonanan-Jalim<br />

Lester Carrington<br />

Mike Pritchett<br />

Navin Ragoo<br />

Oniika Davis-Peters<br />

Patricia King<br />

Rachel Mungroo-Ramsamooj<br />

Rajesh Kandhai<br />

Reginald Williams<br />

Renny Jaikissoon<br />

Roddy Ramdhan<br />

Rodney Charles<br />

Roy Yongo<br />

Ryan Colthrust<br />

Steve Chabelal<br />

Stuart Rettie<br />

Tyrone Kalpee<br />

negatively impacted by the absent<br />

staff and that sufficient plans were<br />

put in place to ensure that our<br />

business here was not exposed to<br />

unsatisfactory levels of risk.”<br />

As days turned into weeks, and the<br />

weeks turned into months, more<br />

bpTT personnel were called out on<br />

two-week rotations, to assist teams<br />

working in Alabama, Louisiana and<br />

the incident management team and<br />

HSE technical co-ordination team<br />

in Houston.<br />

All bpTT employees who supported<br />

the response are trained incident<br />

management responders who<br />

were able to share their experience<br />

with the GoM response teams. In<br />

the US, they worked in the areas<br />

of environment, safety, industrial<br />

hygiene, operations, logistics<br />

planning, engineering and marine<br />

operations.


<strong>BP</strong>TT ENgINEER AwARdEd<br />

US Coast Guard merit token<br />

ABOVE: Renny Jaikissoon at the incident command centre in Mobile, Alabama<br />

It was in June that Renny Jaikissoon,<br />

integrity assurance lead in bpTT’s<br />

health, safety, security, environment<br />

and engineering organization, was<br />

presented with a US Coast Guard<br />

merit token for excellence. Jaikissoon<br />

received this award while assisting<br />

with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill<br />

response efforts for his outstanding<br />

performance as operations section<br />

chief (nights) at the incident<br />

command centre in Mobile, Alabama.<br />

The token, a medal, was presented<br />

by Lieutenant-Commander Martin<br />

L Smith, US Coast Guard planning<br />

section chief, on behalf of the US<br />

Coast Guard Incident Commander.<br />

During the presentation, Jaikissoon<br />

was commended for his work in<br />

leading the night operations team<br />

and for his involvement in building<br />

new processes that helped deliver<br />

consistent, accurate and timely<br />

operational data and reports to the<br />

Unified Area Command via the<br />

Coast Guard.<br />

Jaikissoon’s efforts resulted in<br />

improved efficiencies with data<br />

management and data reporting<br />

and fostered an improved working<br />

relationship with the US Coast Guard.<br />

Congratulations, Renny!<br />

11


<strong>BP</strong>’s chief economist brings<br />

‘<strong>BP</strong>’S STATISTICAL REvIEw Of wORLd<br />

ENERgY’ TO TRINIdAd ANd TOBAgO<br />

<strong>BP</strong> group vice-president and<br />

chief economist Christof<br />

Ruehl told several audiences<br />

in Trinidad and Tobago in<br />

July that <strong>BP</strong>’s acceptance of<br />

responsibility for the oil spill disaster in<br />

the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is an action<br />

that will be rewarded in the long term.<br />

Ruehl, who was in Trinidad to present<br />

details of the <strong>BP</strong> Statistical Review<br />

of World Energy <strong>2010</strong>, made this<br />

comment to various audiences as a<br />

prelude to his presentation.<br />

Speaking about the financial<br />

commitment the company made he<br />

said: “This is something many smaller<br />

companies could not have done<br />

because they would not have had the<br />

financial muscle to do so. Some of<br />

the larger companies may not have<br />

adopted such an approach, but we did<br />

because we thought it was the right<br />

thing to do.”<br />

Ruehl visited Trinidad for three<br />

days in July as the guest of bpTT<br />

to broadly discuss the implications<br />

of the Statistical Review with key<br />

local audiences, which included<br />

government ministers, senior civil<br />

servants, leaders in the business<br />

community, industry chambers and<br />

members of the national news media.<br />

He provided valuable insights into<br />

issues such as energy security, energy<br />

trade and alternative energy, the global<br />

economic environment and its impact<br />

on energy supply and demand.<br />

His visit was well received by those<br />

attending meetings with him and<br />

they also took the opportunity to ask<br />

questions about bpTT’s operations<br />

in Trinidad and Tobago in a global<br />

context.<br />

12<br />

The Statistical Review is one of<br />

the most widely respected and<br />

authoritative publications in the field<br />

of energy economics, referenced<br />

by the media, academia, world<br />

governments and other energy<br />

companies.<br />

According to the report, global<br />

consumption of oil, natural gas<br />

and nuclear power declined, while<br />

coal consumption was essentially<br />

flat; only hydroelectric output and<br />

other renewable forms of energy<br />

increased in 2009. The data on<br />

energy consumption suggests that<br />

global carbon dioxide emissions<br />

from energy use fell for the first time<br />

since 1998.<br />

Ruehl said: “Energy consumption<br />

reflected the pattern of recession<br />

and recovery. For the world as a<br />

whole, primary energy consumption<br />

fell by 1.1% in 2009, the first decline<br />

since 1982. Consumption in the<br />

industrialized countries of the OECD<br />

fell by 5% – more than their decline<br />

in GDP; those countries consumed<br />

less energy last year than 10 years<br />

ago. Energy consumption outside<br />

the OECD increased by 2.7% – more<br />

than the increase in GDP – and<br />

was driven by growth in China. The<br />

shift toward the developing world<br />

continues.”<br />

For more information, <strong>BP</strong> Statistical<br />

Review of World Energy <strong>2010</strong> is<br />

available online at www.bp.com/<br />

statisticalreview. The website<br />

contains all the tables and charts<br />

found in the latest printed edition,<br />

plus a number of extras, such as<br />

historical data from 1965 for many<br />

sections and additional data for<br />

natural gas, coal, hydroelectricity,<br />

nuclear energy, electricity and<br />

renewables.<br />

ABOVE: Christof Ruehl, <strong>BP</strong> group vice-president<br />

and chief economist


SEvEN LOCAL TEAMS ACHIEvE<br />

commended status in Helios awards<br />

Seven of bpTT’s 29 submissions were awarded commended status in the <strong>BP</strong> group’s<br />

global performance recognition programme, the Helios awards, according to a group<br />

announcement in July.<br />

The awards, which celebrate ‘<strong>BP</strong> at its best’, uncover and share hundreds of stories<br />

about <strong>BP</strong> people achieving outstanding success in a number of areas across the business. The<br />

awards recognize individuals and teams who are bringing <strong>BP</strong>’s values to life in four principal<br />

performance categories: progressive, responsible, innovative and performance-driven.<br />

The following are synopses of the seven commended Helios submissions from Trinidad in their<br />

categories:<br />

Performance-driven<br />

‘Mahogany <strong>2010</strong> – Low-hanging<br />

Fruit Never Tasted This Good’<br />

This project is an optimized access<br />

plan that has allowed the recovery of<br />

further hydrocarbon resources in the<br />

Mahogany field.<br />

‘Cost Management – How Trinidad<br />

is in action!’<br />

Through a number of initiatives,<br />

bpTT’s strategic value committee<br />

was able to develop an engaging<br />

and empowering campaign that<br />

encouraged staff at all levels to<br />

find ways to improve bpTT’s cost<br />

efficiency. The results of this work<br />

continue to be seen across the<br />

business and shared with other<br />

companies across <strong>BP</strong>.<br />

‘A P.I.G. to resolve problems’<br />

This project sought to reduce<br />

unplanned downtime and has seen<br />

a 100% decrease in bpTT’s plant<br />

shutdowns as a result.<br />

‘150,000 to 230,000 standard cubic<br />

feet a day. Pushing the small bore<br />

completion envelope’<br />

The objective of this project was to<br />

increase production on one of bpTT’s<br />

platforms, the Savonette. The team<br />

worked together to find solutions<br />

and overcome challenges and this<br />

contributed to bpTT’s highest gas<br />

sales ever.<br />

Responsible<br />

‘Getting closer to zero and helping<br />

to change T&T’<br />

This entry described bpTT’s safety<br />

performance, which has improved<br />

since 2008. The workforce has<br />

become more actively engaged in<br />

meeting leadership expectations<br />

and improving the quality of safety<br />

reporting.<br />

‘Crisis Management/Emergency<br />

Response – Building a home away<br />

from home’<br />

This entry details how bpTT’s crisis<br />

management and emergency<br />

response team worked to<br />

improve the company’s ability<br />

to appropriately and effectively<br />

respond to emergencies. It<br />

describes the company’s first ever<br />

full-scale exercise, ‘Operation<br />

Seahawk’, which tested bpTT’s<br />

crisis management and emergency<br />

response through a helicopter crash<br />

simulation.<br />

Progressive<br />

‘Where there’s energy...there’s<br />

bpTT!’<br />

This entry shares bpTT’s<br />

development of a new corporate<br />

advertising campaign in 2009<br />

which has received both local and<br />

international recognition. With<br />

a limited 2009-<strong>2010</strong> advertising<br />

budget, the campaign effectively<br />

shared highlights of bpTT’s business,<br />

corporate responsibility programmes<br />

and contribution to Trinidad and<br />

Tobago’s development.<br />

13


14<br />

‘BRINg<br />

YOUR KIdS<br />

TO wORK’<br />

dAY<br />

Over 90 children visited<br />

bpTT’s head office,<br />

Queen’s Park Plaza, as<br />

part of a ‘Bring Your Kids<br />

to Work’ initiative in<br />

August.<br />

Children of employees<br />

and from five<br />

underprivileged homes<br />

were invited on two<br />

separate days to share<br />

in a full agenda that<br />

included a 3D movie<br />

entitled ‘Columbus Basin<br />

Fly Through’, video<br />

conferencing to bpTT’s<br />

Mahogany B platform and<br />

a mini career fair.


‘RACE 4<br />

YOUR CAUSE’<br />

fINANCE CAREER fAIR<br />

All staff of bpTT’s ‘wider’ finance community, which<br />

includes procurement and supply chain management<br />

(PSCM), tax, treasury and facilities, management<br />

and services, hosted a career fair in June with a<br />

focus on training and professional development. The<br />

event featured booths for each discipline with the<br />

objective of linking jobs to competencies and training.<br />

Finance staff who attended the fair left with a deeper<br />

understanding of the jobs they can aspire to in finance,<br />

the competencies that are required for each position,<br />

and the available training to build those competencies.<br />

The fair was highly interactive and those in attendance<br />

were invited to participate in quizzes based on<br />

information provided at the various booths. Nailah Ali of<br />

PSCM won the top prize.<br />

Twelve employees from bpTT came out in July to support a charity event – ‘Race 4 Your Cause’, organized by BG<br />

T&T, along with United Way Trinidad and Tobago and the Foundation for the Enhancement and Enrichment of Life.<br />

<strong>BP</strong>TT’s Team ‘A’ emerged the winner of the day’s event, which included road running, spinning, obstacle courses<br />

and carrying 20 pounds of non-perishable food (all donated to the charities) to the finish line. It was indeed a fun<br />

day for a good cause. Teams had until the end of September to raise funds pledged to their selected causes.<br />

15


ABOVE: Nigel Charles (left) with Roger<br />

Coutain at bpTT’s head office<br />

16<br />

<strong>BP</strong>TT’S SECURITY TEAM<br />

AT THE fOREfRONT<br />

of corporate security, risk,<br />

crisis and disaster management<br />

Security and crisis management are two of the underlying elements of<br />

keeping a business safe and resilient, and bpTT’s security and crisis<br />

management department understands this even better, with two of<br />

its members recently completing their master’s degrees.<br />

Roger Coutain, business security manager, now holds a master’s in<br />

corporate security management. He is the first person globally to achieve<br />

this designation through the ARC Training International Academy for Security<br />

Management in partnership with the Centre for Criminology, Middlesex<br />

University, and Skills for Security, the UK Skills and Standards Setting Body<br />

for the security business sector.<br />

Nigel Charles, security advisor, was awarded his master’s, with merit, in risk,<br />

crisis and disaster management from the Civil Safety and Security Unit of the<br />

University of Leicester.<br />

These were no doubt proud achievements for both individuals and the Insider<br />

interviewed both Coutain and Charles about their recent accomplishments.


Coutain’s story<br />

With Coutain, there is a great deal of purpose behind<br />

his every step. His words are carefully chosen and his<br />

approach to sharing any information is very cautious. So<br />

it seems fitting that he sits as bpTT’s manager of security<br />

and crisis management. What also fits with this profile is<br />

that he never doubted that this field of work is where he<br />

belongs. “I was inspired by my father and some family<br />

friends who were police officers. I knew from a very<br />

early age that this was for me.”<br />

Coutain started his career with the Airports Authority’s<br />

security department and in 1995, moved to the<br />

police service. Here he spent some six years in the<br />

anti-kidnapping unit of the criminal investigation<br />

department. In 2003, Coutain joined bpTT as a security<br />

specialist. He was appointed business security manager<br />

in 2004 and moved to his current role, which now<br />

includes expanded responsibility for bpTT’s crisis<br />

management, earlier this year. “I’m attracted to the<br />

field of managing risk and security. What drives me is<br />

the ability to provide expert advice to our business and<br />

stakeholders. But equally important is being able to help<br />

people outside the workplace to secure their families,<br />

loved ones and property.”<br />

So what made Coutain take the step toward attaining his<br />

master’s degree? He explained: “I wanted to enhance<br />

my academic aptitude so that it matched my professional<br />

experience. I felt this would allow me to provide the<br />

best support to bpTT and staff. I was convinced that this<br />

was the way forward for me. According to ARC Training<br />

International UK, an affiliate of Middlesex University,<br />

where I pursued my master’s degree, less than 1% of<br />

security managers globally have a degree in security<br />

management.”<br />

David Cresswell, managing director at ARC, said: “This<br />

is a momentous occasion not just for ARC but for the<br />

security profession as a whole. We began this project<br />

with Middlesex University in 2003 and it took two years<br />

to come to fruition. News of Roger’s graduation has had<br />

a hugely motivating effect on the almost 100 security<br />

professionals who are now also actively working toward<br />

achieving this degree.”<br />

Coutain has now gained invaluable experience and<br />

in a personal capacity, he feels a sense of fulfilment<br />

and increased confidence to do his job. “I’ve brought<br />

additional experience to the business and I feel that<br />

people will be even more trusting in the advice we give.”<br />

Coutain’s counsel on security is not limited to bpTT.<br />

He actively supports organizations such as Atlantic<br />

LNG, the University of the West Indies, the British<br />

High Commission, and the Neal & Massy Wood<br />

Group. “In this field, it’s about sharing what you know<br />

to minimize the risks to business and any potential<br />

impact to the country.”<br />

Charles’s story<br />

PEOPLE<br />

From the moment you sit to chat with Charles, you<br />

instantly sense the humility of one who has lots to be<br />

proud of but seeks to keep his focus instead on the<br />

challenges of the job.<br />

In the field of security, there’s always an element<br />

of uncertainty and often, a need to control great<br />

levels of risk. This is why Charles chose to pursue<br />

a master’s in risk, crisis and disaster management.<br />

“Two years ago, I realized that a strong link between<br />

crisis management and security was being developed<br />

globally and I thought it was the perfect time to further<br />

my knowledge. A master’s in this area seemed to be a<br />

right fit for me.”<br />

For Charles, this degree meant gaining a better<br />

understanding of different aspects of risk, crisis and<br />

disaster management. He chose to study topics such as<br />

terrorism, risk perception, safety related active learning,<br />

disaster management and confidential reporting. His<br />

dissertation focused on the relationship between risk<br />

perception and near-miss reporting, certainly a very<br />

important and relevant part of bpTT’s business.<br />

Before joining bpTT, Charles had already begun building<br />

his expertise in security, serving for 19 years in the<br />

police service, where he spent most of his time in<br />

the special branch, dealing with intelligence and state<br />

security. It was in 2003 that Charles felt the need<br />

for change when, coincidentally, bpTT posted an<br />

advertisement for a corporate security representative.<br />

The rest is history. Seven years later, Charles continues<br />

to be an integral part of bpTT’s security department,<br />

now in the role of security advisor.<br />

Describing his experience with the company thus<br />

far, he says: “Working with this company not<br />

only provides a high level of job satisfaction but is<br />

also very challenging. Just as persons engaged in<br />

technical areas always have to be on the cutting edge<br />

of technology, so too persons in security, and the<br />

health, safety, security and environment field as a<br />

whole, have to be at the forefront of their particular<br />

skill. It has been especially satisfying to note that<br />

most of the staff at bpTT from the top down are<br />

supportive of security. This has made the job easier<br />

and encourages me.”<br />

Having graduated in July, Charles now reflects on<br />

his degree with confidence that his choice was the<br />

right one. “Now I am able to more clearly see how<br />

security and risk, crisis and disaster management fit.<br />

It’s a real nice fit at that. Each supports the other and<br />

now I feel that I am in a more informed position to<br />

treat with risk and managing circumstances to avoid<br />

crises.” Charles is definitely a man who has taken<br />

each step in charting his professional career carefully<br />

and cautiously with no regrets.<br />

17


CORPORATE<br />

SOCIAL<br />

RESPONSIBILITY<br />

Aspiring young men and<br />

women who are set on<br />

becoming Trinidad and<br />

Tobago’s next generation<br />

of steelband composers,<br />

successfully completed the bpTTsponsored<br />

arranging and composing<br />

workshops at two venues in north<br />

and south Trinidad over the course of<br />

three weeks in July.<br />

This exercise, the brainchild of<br />

the Pan in Schools Co-ordinating<br />

Council (PSCC), was sponsored<br />

by bpTT because, according to<br />

Giselle Thompson, vice-president,<br />

communications and external affairs,<br />

“of our company’s unwavering support<br />

and commitment to facilitating the<br />

development of a distinct youth voice<br />

with the musical instrument of the<br />

country.”<br />

The workshops took place at Trinity<br />

College in Maraval and the San<br />

Fernando East Junior Secondary<br />

School in Pleasantville and saw just<br />

over 40 participants, a mix of primary<br />

and secondary school students and<br />

their teachers.<br />

While both workshops were intense,<br />

they offered the opportunity to learn<br />

under the tutelage of some of the best<br />

known in the field, including:<br />

18<br />

<strong>BP</strong>TT INvESTS<br />

IN THE fUTURE<br />

of youth and steelpan<br />

• Michelle Huggins-Watts, a<br />

music teacher at Trinity College for<br />

the past 18 years and arranger of a<br />

winning tune for the WoodTrin Steel<br />

Orchestra in the schools ‘Panorama’<br />

competition.<br />

• Paul Massy, a graduate in music<br />

from the University of the West<br />

Indies and the regional co-ordinator<br />

for music for the ‘Pan in the<br />

Classroom’ unit in Caroni.<br />

• Vanessa Headley who comes<br />

from a strong musical background,<br />

with her father Frank Headley<br />

making pioneering strides in the pan<br />

pantheon.<br />

“The students have exceeded<br />

expectations. We have some talented<br />

arrangers coming,” course facilitator<br />

Huggins-Watts said at the end of the<br />

workshop. The workshop will bear<br />

fruit as early as the Panorama 2011<br />

competition.<br />

Tricia Richardson, 28, who travelled<br />

each day approximately 10km from<br />

Maloney to Maraval to fine-tune her<br />

natural talent will arrange for the<br />

Tripolians of St James in the coming<br />

season. Her zeal, interest and thirst<br />

for information demonstrate the<br />

attitude of all of the students with<br />

regard to learning about composition<br />

and the national instrument.<br />

Co-ordinator Stacy Alcantara of the<br />

PSCC has seen scores of students<br />

of all ages benefit from the annual<br />

workshops sponsored by bpTT, all<br />

of whom have gone back to their<br />

schools and panyards to share their<br />

knowledge. It has also served to raise<br />

the self-esteem of music teachers<br />

who work in the school system<br />

and are not comfortable with the<br />

instrument.<br />

The students each got a chance<br />

to share their knowledge and<br />

skills as they played and spoke of<br />

their choice of ideas, motifs and<br />

notations. They all felt a sense of<br />

pride and achievement.<br />

These young people will now go<br />

out into schools, organizations<br />

and communities to share their<br />

knowledge with others. They are<br />

the beneficiaries of bpTT’s mission<br />

to support responsible communities<br />

and to make the environment in<br />

which they exist culturally richer.<br />

TOP: Student Tricia Richardson is happy for<br />

the opportunity to learn more about music via<br />

these workshops<br />

ABOVE: Course facilitator Michelle Huggins-<br />

Watts pays close attention to students practising


<strong>BP</strong>TT ANd RENEgAdES<br />

renew their partnership<br />

<strong>BP</strong> Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT)<br />

and the Renegades Steel<br />

Orchestra recently renewed<br />

their commitment to the<br />

partnership that began 40 years ago.<br />

<strong>BP</strong>TT chairman and CEO Robert<br />

Riley and Renegades president<br />

Michael Marcano renewed their<br />

partnership pledges at a formal<br />

function in June at the Hilton<br />

Trinidad. The function was held to<br />

celebrate the achievements of the<br />

band over the last 40 years.<br />

“Our association with the<br />

Renegades has been a highly<br />

rewarding experience. Rewarding<br />

in that it has allowed us as an<br />

international business corporation to<br />

make a contribution to the growth<br />

and development of one of the most<br />

distinctive elements of the culture of<br />

Trinidad and Tobago – the steel pan,”<br />

Riley shared with the gathering of<br />

Renegades band members and<br />

specially invited guests.<br />

<strong>BP</strong>TT, then Amoco, began<br />

sponsoring Renegades in June<br />

1970. Since that time, Renegades<br />

has become one of the most<br />

accomplished and renowned<br />

steelbands in Trinidad and Tobago<br />

and the world. Renegades, which<br />

has won the prestigious National<br />

Panorama title nine times, remains<br />

the only band to cop this title three<br />

years in a row.<br />

The band has also earned the title<br />

of ‘most travelled band’ through its<br />

annual tour commitments in the US,<br />

Europe and the Far East.<br />

Marcano noted that the band had<br />

formed a non-profit company in<br />

2002. He said: “The vision of the<br />

Renegades Steel Orchestra Cultural<br />

Arts & Entertainment Organization,<br />

as the company is titled, is to<br />

achieve universal acclaim as the<br />

premier steel orchestra in the world<br />

and to become a self-sufficient<br />

organization that is capable of<br />

providing sustainable employment<br />

for its members.”<br />

ABOVE: From right, Robert Riley, chairman<br />

and CEO, bpTT; Vel Lewis, deputy permanent<br />

secretary, Ministry of Arts and Multiculturalism;<br />

and Michael Marcano, president, Renegades,<br />

renew bpTT’s vows with the Renegades<br />

19


On 26 July, Natural Treasures<br />

Day, all roads led to<br />

Charlotteville, Tobago for<br />

its contribution to the twoweek<br />

long Tobago Heritage Festival<br />

celebrating the island’s history and<br />

traditions. <strong>BP</strong>TT has sponsored the<br />

Charlotteville Natural Treasures Day<br />

for the past six years as part of its<br />

commitment to the preservation of<br />

national arts and cultural traditions.<br />

Together with bpTT, the residents<br />

of Charlotteville re-enact the many<br />

rituals of long ago, paying tribute<br />

and passing on local traditions to<br />

the next generation. The theme<br />

of this year’s festival was ‘Tracing<br />

Footprints’.<br />

This year’s presentation included<br />

a full day’s activities that kept the<br />

town lively with something for<br />

everyone.<br />

The morning started at Fort<br />

Cambleton to the music of a<br />

‘tamboo bamboo’ band and<br />

amplified chanting of folk songs<br />

and popular calypsos on a truck.<br />

Residents and visitors ‘trekked’<br />

through the village stopping at<br />

intervals to observe various rituals<br />

– the ‘washing of the dead bed’,<br />

‘dancing the cocoa’, baking bread<br />

in a mud oven, extracting juice<br />

from the sugar cane with a ‘batty<br />

mill’, and the different methods of<br />

preserving fish, just to name a few.<br />

20<br />

‘TRACINg fOOTPRINTS’<br />

of Charlotteville’s history<br />

“Town closes down<br />

for Charlotteville day!”<br />

said one resident of<br />

this small fishing village<br />

found on the northeast<br />

coast of Tobago with<br />

unmistakeable pride.<br />

This information<br />

was shared during<br />

the luncheon period<br />

between mouthfuls of<br />

corn meal dumplings<br />

with provisions and an array<br />

of meats and fish. Cassava pone,<br />

sweetbread, coconut tarts and local<br />

fruit ice cream were only some of the<br />

delightful goodies also on sale.<br />

Families resident in other countries<br />

came to Charlotteville to reunite with<br />

those still living at home, using the<br />

opportunity to hold family reunions.<br />

Visitors enjoyed the easy-going<br />

hospitality and savoured the ‘natural<br />

treasures’ on offer by the village.<br />

After all the jumping, ‘chipping’<br />

and singing, lunch was a semirest<br />

period before the much<br />

anticipated beach ‘Treasure Hunt’<br />

in the afternoon. The annual hunt<br />

is held on Pirates Bay and both the<br />

very young and the young-at-heart<br />

were seen having fun, looking for<br />

clues that would lead to redeeming<br />

‘treasure’ at the treasure booth.<br />

Treasured souvenirs of Charlottevillebranded<br />

jute bags and T-shirts were<br />

also on sale at the booth.<br />

TOP: Charlotteville residents and visitors enjoy the music as they<br />

walk through the village BELOW: Charlotteville residents perform<br />

in the ‘Ole Time School Concert’<br />

Bringing the curtain down on the<br />

day’s proceedings was the ‘Ole<br />

Time School Concert’ which was<br />

held in the village’s main square in<br />

the evening. This year’s skit traced<br />

the footprint of village icon, JD Elder<br />

and his contributions to Tobago’s<br />

development.<br />

At the end of it all, weary but happy,<br />

everyone agreed that “a good time<br />

was had by all”. In her greetings<br />

to the gathering, Ronda Francis,<br />

bpTT’s corporate social responsibility<br />

manager, shared the company’s pride<br />

in being associated with events that<br />

“capture our local heritage and share<br />

how our history has contributed and<br />

led to who we are today.”<br />

“The theme of tracing our footprints<br />

is one that we should all seek to<br />

do continually throughout our lives,<br />

gaining a deeper appreciation for our<br />

national cultural traditions and how<br />

they came to be.”


Lyndon Mohess, <strong>BP</strong> Trinidad and Tobago’s (bpTT)<br />

area operations manager, onshore operations,<br />

said that the annual bpTT environmental<br />

awareness competition had grown from<br />

strength to strength since its inception and<br />

it was encouraging to see so many young people<br />

becoming interested in environmental protection as a<br />

result.<br />

Mohess was addressing the prize distribution ceremony<br />

of the fourth annual Environmental Awareness<br />

Competition for primary and secondary schools in the<br />

South East Education District at the Mayaro Resource<br />

Centre in June.<br />

The bpTT Schools Environmental Awareness<br />

Competition is organized by a Mayaro-based community<br />

organization, Black Deer Foundation. This group evolved<br />

out of an initial investment by bpTT’s health, safety,<br />

security and environment (HSSE) team which provided<br />

environmental training and support to members of the<br />

Mayaro/Guayaguayare community, who then approached<br />

the energy company to sponsor the competition.<br />

Mohess stressed that bpTT believed in partnering with<br />

organizations to make a difference in the community. “We<br />

believe this is the best approach because organizations<br />

like Black Deer Foundation are in the best place to<br />

understand the needs of the community,” he noted.<br />

He congratulated the organizers, participants and<br />

teachers, as well as the judges of the various categories,<br />

for making the competition a huge success.<br />

COMMUNITY<br />

MAYARO TAKES ENvIRONMENTAL<br />

AwARENESS TO A NEw LEvEL<br />

The theme for this year’s competition was ‘Preserving<br />

Our Diversity’. The competition is open to primary and<br />

secondary schools in three categories: debating, art/<br />

poster and creative writing. Schools from the North East<br />

Education District also participate in the project.<br />

Delivering the feature address at the function, Dr David<br />

Persaud, environmental manager, Ministry of Housing<br />

and the Environment, said that indiscriminate quarrying<br />

was one of the main activities taking a toll on the<br />

environment in Trinidad and Tobago.<br />

He outlined several initiatives undertaken at national and<br />

community levels to protect the natural environment,<br />

adding that education was the key to ensuring<br />

sustainability.<br />

“This environmental awareness competition and others<br />

like it are essential components of environmental<br />

education. It is not the theory side but the practical<br />

aspect of education that is often a more effective way to<br />

get the information across to children,” said Dr Persaud.<br />

Also speaking at the closing ceremony was Rajesh<br />

Kandhai, bpTT’s field environmental advisor, who<br />

outlined some of the measures undertaken by the<br />

company to help protect the national environment.<br />

ABOVE: Anisah Khan, of North Eastern College, winner of the Art/Poster<br />

category in the 15-18 age group of the bpTT Schools Environmental<br />

Awareness Competition, explains her technique to (from left) Dr<br />

David Persaud, environmental manager, Ministry of Housing and the<br />

Environment; Rajesh Kandhai, field environmental advisor, bpTT; and<br />

Lyndon Mohess, area operations manager, onshore operations, bpTT<br />

21


<strong>BP</strong>TT jOINS vOLUNTEERS<br />

in national ‘clean and beautify’ effort<br />

Hundreds of residents from Mayaro and environs, including<br />

representatives from <strong>BP</strong> Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT), got together at<br />

the stroke of dawn one Sunday in late June as part of the ‘Clean Up<br />

and Beautify (C&B) Trinidad and Tobago Day’.<br />

Volunteers led clean-up activities in areas throughout the south-eastern<br />

region including Rio Claro, Mafeking, Cedar Grove, Mayaro, Ortoire,<br />

Manzanilla and Guayaguayare.<br />

The Honourable Winston ‘Gypsy’ Peters, Member of Parliament for Mayaro,<br />

said: “This is an excellent initiative and for weeks now, stakeholders from<br />

every village have thrown their efforts into improving the communities that<br />

we live in. We all know that our surroundings represent who we are as a<br />

people, and we want to show the very best of who we are.”<br />

22<br />

The day’s activities were officially<br />

launched at Plaisance Beach,<br />

Mayaro by Ramlochan Panchoo,<br />

chairman of the Mayaro/Rio<br />

Claro Regional Corporation, who<br />

thanked the many groups who had<br />

supported the effort.<br />

Among the prominent contributors<br />

were the residents throughout<br />

the region, the Ministry of Works<br />

and Transport, bpTT, the Mayaro/<br />

Rio Claro Regional Corporation, the<br />

Community-based Environmental<br />

Protection and Enhancement<br />

Programme, the Unemployment<br />

Relief Programme, the Civilian<br />

Conservation Corps and the Nariva<br />

Mayaro Hunters Group.<br />

Robert Riley, chairman and chief<br />

executive officer, bpTT, was in on<br />

the action and joined the volunteers<br />

to clean up the community.<br />

According to Riley: “<strong>BP</strong>TT is<br />

an integral part of the Mayaro<br />

community and this initiative<br />

gives us the opportunity to work<br />

alongside community residents<br />

for a better Mayaro. We trust that<br />

the C&B initiative is just the start<br />

of a community effort towards<br />

maintaining one of the most<br />

beautiful communities along the<br />

east coast.”<br />

According to Simon Dickson, a<br />

resident of Mayaro: “I really love<br />

the energy and spirit that we are<br />

all experiencing together as we<br />

make a contribution to improving<br />

the environment. I know that if we<br />

all work together Mayaro will be a<br />

better place for everyone to enjoy.”<br />

TOP: These volunteers are all business as they<br />

work hard cleaning up the beach at Plaisance<br />

in Mayaro<br />

BELOW: (From left) Ramlochan Panchoo,<br />

chairman of the Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional<br />

Corporation; Robert Riley, chairman and CEO<br />

of bpTT; and Winston ‘Gypsy’ Peters, Member<br />

of Parliament for Mayaro, all pitched in to help<br />

clean up the beach at Indian Bay, Mayaro


<strong>BP</strong>TT-sponsored NIgHT CRICKET COMPLETES<br />

10 SUCCESSfUL YEARS<br />

The Mayaro/Guayaguayare Unemployed<br />

Organization and Concerned Citizens held the<br />

prize-giving for its 10th annual Windball Night<br />

Cricket early in July at the Mayaro Resource<br />

Centre. The bpTT-sponsored competition was held over<br />

five months and featured 27 teams this year, including<br />

six female teams.<br />

Formally opening the prize-giving ceremony, Lyndon<br />

Mohess, bpTT’s area operations manager, onshore<br />

operations, congratulated teams and players for<br />

participating, and for the high standard of the<br />

competition. He noted in particular the high level of<br />

discipline among players and the spirit in which matches<br />

were played.<br />

According to Mohess, programmes like this develop<br />

players who have the potential to become athletic stars<br />

of the future.<br />

Some 50 prizes were awarded at the function for the<br />

league and knock-out competitions. The top prize in the<br />

men’s league competition was won by ‘Terminal Strikers’<br />

while the winner of the female league competition was<br />

‘Bomb Squad’. Winning teams received cash awards of<br />

TT$5,000 each.<br />

Persistent heavy rainfall prevented the final matches in<br />

the knockout category of both the men’s and women’s<br />

competitions from being contested. In the men’s<br />

contest ‘Terminal Strikers’ was scheduled to face off<br />

against ‘Hydrotech Best XI’, while in the women’s<br />

contest ‘Bomb Squad’ was scheduled to meet ‘Fisher<br />

Girls’. Organizers declared joint winners for both<br />

matches and split the prizes.<br />

Among the big winners of individual prizes for females<br />

was Natasha Stewart of ‘Bomb Squad’, who won the<br />

awards for Best Catch, Most Runs, Most Wickets, and<br />

Most Valuable Player in the league competition. On the<br />

men’s side, Willis Pegues of ‘Newland Warriors’ won<br />

the awards for Best Wicket Keeper, Highest Individual<br />

Score, and Most Runs in the league competition. Ryan<br />

Baksh of ‘Terminal Strikers’ won the awards for Player<br />

Taking the Most Wickets and Most Valuable Player.<br />

A team of youngsters, playing under the name ‘Lara<br />

Youths’, picked up awards for Most Disciplined Team,<br />

Most Promising Team, Most Promising Youth Player<br />

and March Past.<br />

TOP: Lyndon Mohess, area operations manager, onshore operations, bpTT,<br />

presents a trophy to Clarance Holder, captain of the men’s winning team<br />

23


Where there’s POTENTIAL…<br />

there is Energy<br />

www.bptt.com<br />

Their eagerness to learn energizes us<br />

The energy and vibrancy of our nation’s youth is inspiring, and harnessing their<br />

potential is bpTT’s focus.<br />

That’s why we support their aspirations by providing bursaries and<br />

scholarships in the fields of Engineering, Social Sciences and Geosciences at<br />

the University of the West Indies. We’re also nurturing their talents through<br />

grants to the University of Trinidad and Tobago.<br />

Our partnership with the Adult Literacy Tutors Association (ALTA) and our<br />

Brighter Prospects Programme in Mayaro, help ensure that potential for higher<br />

learning is never wasted.<br />

Where there are opportunities to channel youthful ambition, there’s energy.<br />

Where there is energy… there is bpTT

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