Tailor-made workovers

Colombia

Victor Andrés Delgado Chavez, director general of Full Services, talks to The Energy Year about the importance of workover services for the company and how difficulties in the drilling market have led it to look for opportunities in other markets. Full Services provides services that integrate the oil, industrial, civil and architectural sectors.

How important are workovers for Full Services, and what projects are you carrying out?
We have multiple service lines, including workovers, which is our most important service; the manufacture of tanks and pipelines; and civil works, which include the construction of roads and earthworks, among other services.
We also have transport equipment which we use for our own operations and for third parties. For example, we have cranes, jack-up trucks and roof racks. We are now manufacturing trailers. It is still a very small service line, but we would like to grow this line in the near future.
Oil services are still our backbone. It is what we understand and what we have done all our lives. Our workover line is the muscle of the company.
We have seven pieces of workover equipment with power between 350-650 hp, working for different clients. Some of the clients we currently provide services for include Gran Tierra, GeoPark, SierraCol, Perenco and Ecopetrol. Around 90% of our clients are from the private sector.
When it comes to projects, there is a workover campaign in the Putumayo region with Gran Tierra. We are also working in the north of Colombia, in Sucre, with Hocol, and in Casanare we are working with GeoPark.

What difficulties is the drilling sector experiencing, and how has this forced companies such as Full Services to look for opportunities in other markets?
It is a complex time for the oil sector and service companies. Drilling activities have fallen and so has overall investment in the sector. Well interventions have been significantly reduced, and the only activities that continue are those that are set to guarantee that the minimum level of production and operations are maintained. This situation affects all service providers in the country, and they’re more conservative in buying new equipment.
Given the reduction of activities in Colombia, we are looking at other attractive markets such as Ecuador or Peru. We are also looking at the US as a potential market for us to penetrate. Activities need to be reactivated so that we can further contribute to E&P in this country.

How important is market experience in navigating industry volatility?
Every country has stages of progress and decline. The market is cyclical. In 2018, we suffered a market recession where we were fighting for work and reduced our fares. In this period, a number of companies went bankrupt. Still today it is difficult to go to a bank and successfully ask for a loan, as they still remember those gloomy times. The fluctuation of the sector makes banks risk averse.
Over these years we have navigated industry waves successfully, and today we have a solid position in the market. We have the experience of 30 years behind us and the required qualifications and certifications to take on important projects.
The market requires us to be faster, safer, quicker, more sustainable and obviously responsible for our personnel, which is the most important thing for us. Despite this crisis, we have kept ourselves active using competitive tariffs and taking advantage of market opportunities.

How does Full Services contribute to the employment and wellbeing of communities?
Colombia has a programme that is based on the concept of rings or zones. The government has established legal grounds that determine that oil and gas companies must prioritise local hiring in the area directly impacted by extractive industry operations.
If a company works in a specific area, it must look to hire personnel from the area of operations. The first ring relates to the local area of operations; the second ring refers to the municipality level; then follows the department ring; and lastly, the fourth ring concerns the national level. This reinforces local content and the communities.
Due to legal agreements with our contractors, we cannot provide any kind of social aid. Consequently, we try to use local goods and services and look at what needs to be strengthened or improved in a given community. Contracts are short term, but social impact has to be long term. Therefore, we reach out to the community and incentivise local business and entrepreneurship, among other endeavours.

To what extent does Full Services adapt its equipment to client requirements?
We tailor our equipment to the work we will do for our client. For instance, we make modifications to our workover equipment to make it sustainable and to reduce its footprint. Sustainability is essential for us, and more and more operators are demanding low-carbon equipment.
We have made modifications to our plant. We have adapted some units to have more strength. We make technical modifications and adapt them to the project and the environment. This ensures project success, and customers appreciate our tailor-made approach.

Read our latest insights on:

• Colombia