Trinidad and Tobago's oil and gas reserves will not last forever, but the country can create a technical legacy, building a cadre of energy service providers with an international reputation for excellence.

This is what Roger Packer, president of the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago, hopes to achieve during his tenure.

"When we get our service contractors at this very high level, we can meet the regional and international demand for personnel and export these companies to the international arena. We want to ensure that in decades to come when we no longer have oil and gas, we still have expert service contractors and we can export that expertise," said Packer in an interview with the Business Express last Thursday at his Port of Spain office.

"We have already taken delegations to Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Suriname, Guyana and Cuba," he added.

Packer believes that building a world-class cadre of local energy service companies and contractors can be a strong sub-sector of the industry. To that end, he says the chamber is keen to establish a "Safe to Work" (STOW) certification process "hopefully by year end" whereby energy and energy service companies must meet the highest international standards in order to operate in Trinidad and Tobago.

As managing director of Tucker Energy Services Ltd, an oil and gas services company founded in Trinidad over 70 years ago, Packer understands the importance of establishing an international presence and keeping up with international industry trends.

It helps also, that he has a comprehensive knowledge of the local oil and gas industry, with over 30 years in the business. He was also immersed in the industry since he was young, growing up in Forest Reserve, Fyzabad – one of the earliest hubs of oil production in Trinidad.

His father worked at Texaco and Packer followed his father's footsteps into the industry, starting at Schlumberger in 1976 and then moving on to Tucker in 1984.

Despite preparing for a future without oil and gas, Packer thinks that there are still a couple decades left in the exploration and extraction sectors, with new finds waiting to be discovered in deepwater and near shore blocks and mature oilfields.

What is needed, however, is an increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

"I still believe there are lot of unexplored areas. Our focus is the FDI coming in – the technical requirements to drill in deepwater are very expensive but we are hoping that we will have some significant finds in those areas. We hope there will be at least ten wells drilled everywhere for exploration. If we can keep a very strong exploration effort, we can extend the life of the industry," he said.

Packer says that key to encouraging and stimulating exploration is putting in place the best incentives to attract coveted foreign direct investment.

"Exploration is a risky business and traditionally we have had a find of one in seven wells – that's pretty good. We have to be very aggressive to attract investors to Trinidad because there are so many options out there. There is a lot happening and we as the Energy Chamber need to be at the forefront and make sure that we do not discourage people from investing- not too much bureaucracy. For example, we have had challenges with the Environmental Management Authority in taking a long time to give approvals – we are not asking for shortcuts, but we need it done quicker," he said.

Packer acknowledges that oil production has been a challenge for the local industry for a long time.

He says that while only about 20 per cent of the country's oil reserves have been recovered over the last 100 years, the chamber is hoping that that percentage can be increased to 35 per cent.

"As you get to mature oilfields, it takes a lot more effort to recover. We need to get production at least stabilised and hopefully raised. The price of oil is US$100 a barrel. Once activity levels are high hopefully we can offset the decline and increase production. I think it is very doable so there needs to be concerted investment," he said.

Packer says it is worrisome that oil production – and gas for that matter – has fallen because of the fact the country has not been able to diversify away from oil and gas.

"We are hoping that we will see diversification taking place in the area of downstream gas...we are hoping we get local investors taking up downstream stuff like plastics, dinnerware, paints, especially with melamine production now coming on stream," he said.

Packer says such downstream development has been proposed for a long time, and even though state agencies, like the National Energy Corporation, have done a good job marketing the potential, there has not been much local interest in developing these industries.

"You always want to see us getting the best value out of every molecule of oil and gas, not just see raw products exported. Over the years we may not have done such a good job with going as far downstream as we need to go but I think there's a big focus on that now," he said.

Despite the challenges that the industry inevitably faces, especially in light of a changing global energy market, Packer is optimistic about Trinidad and Tobago's future in the industry.

He admits there is much room for improvement, even after a hundred years.

He also thinks the country has become "a bit" uncompetitive in recent years, but that there is now a concerted effort by the Ministry of Energy to tackle these issues.

His outlook for 2012 is optimistic.

"We're seeing exploration activity at a level we haven't seen in years. I may be an eternal optimist but I am positive there will be activity and much needed exploration finds and that will just lead to more positive reports and longevity in the industry."