AREAS OF EXPLORATION
TBY talks to Guillermo J. Gamez, CEO of CTAC, on areas of opportunity for the sector, its expansion plans, and minimizing the environmental impact of its work.
BIOGRAPHY
Guillermo J. Gamez is a mechanical engineer who graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of Volgograd in Russia and earned his master’s in design internal combustion engines. In 2009, he co-founded Advanced Technologies Company Colombia CTAC SAS. Gamez has more than 10 years of experience in consolidation of technological innovations, introducing innovations to the market and support for different branches of the mining and energy sectors.How would you evaluate your operations over the past two years?
The global economic scenario of the last two years represented an important challenge for the entire commodity industry in all its branches and sectors. In terms of the exploration and extractive sector, which are the basis of the companies with which we contract, the brake in its dynamics was fairly evident. The global situation presented a significant oversupply of the main raw materials and especially in the oil industry. This required a revaluation of the negotiation and operation of our company, introducing new lines of business and entering less conventional markets. Together with this, the Colombian market presented the conjuncture of the peace process, which brought a moment of certain expectation on the part of the major players to make their investment decisions, a trend that continued in SMEs. Now with the recovery scenario, the challenge is completely different. As a result of the situation of the last two years, we managed to build a flexible operating method that allows us to move quickly in the new scenario of oil prices. We look forward to the future of the Colombian market. The hydrocarbons sector went through a learning process and is now prepared to compete with this current price level. The cost and process optimization that was carried out was deep, and we now have to begin a comprehensive process of strong resource exploration. This is already taking place at the head of Ecopetrol, and we are seeing the entry of new players such as ConocoPhillips in the non-conventional sector. As a result of all this, we clearly see a recovery process for which we must be prepared.
Which areas of your portfolio show the most potential and how would you divide them in terms of revenue?
For 2018, with the rise in oil prices, we aim to revitalize the entire oil and gas finder technology (OFT) market. However, we are considering giving it a level of importance equal to that of minerals. The idea is to divide the efforts of market penetration in the same way as oil and mining. Therefore, we consider as a goal that the oil and mining market will reach 80% of our total income, that is, 40% each. The next order is to reinforce all the strategy that corresponds to water finder technology (WFT). Water is more important every day, and we see there are possibilities where it can even become our main market.
What is your current geographical presence and your expansion plans?
The global conjuncture forced us to opt for a strategy of just staying in the markets that were already present. The challenge was not having to close any of the projects we already achieved. We are currently thinking of Africa as a possible next step, as well as to strengthen ourselves in the markets where we are already present.
Communities and environment concerns remain two main challenges for the energy sector. How is CTAC committed to preserving the environment?
CTAC maintains its commitment to the sector by offering technologies with zero environmental impact and with the willingness to work hand-in-hand with communities. We have examined different alternatives to contribute to the preservation of the environment and to benefit communities, through projects such as making an inventory of aquifers and monitoring them over time. The heart of our mission is to perform the exploratory process with a minimum amount of environmental impact, and during the extraction process to advise companies on how to make as little impact as possible, going only to the areas that really are profitable and environmentally viable to exploit
What are your key priorities for 2018?
Our priorities for 2018 are to increase our presence in the markets where we are already present and to deepen the relationship with customers that we have been working on prior to the crisis in the sector.
AREAS OF EXPLORATION
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