New opportunities in neighbouring energy markets

Trinidad and Tobago

Sasha Ian Addo, managing director of L&S Surveying Services, talks to The Energy Year about how the demand for surveying services in Trinidad and Tobago has evolved and the company’s strategic approach to seizing opportunities in neighbouring markets. L&S Surveying Services is a surveying and land development company based in Trinidad and Tobago and active in the region.

How has the demand for surveying services in Trinidad and Tobago evolved and how are you adapting to sustain business?
There are a lot of requests for services coming in, but unfortunately, most of them are for projects – including energy projects – that are not ready to begin due to a lack of funding.
Therefore, we have been focusing on improving operational efficiencies. It is important that we constantly look at our operational bottom line, at how projects have been executed. We focus heavily on monitoring and reporting so we can make sure that our systems are running as best they can.

What have been some of your main areas of activity in 2023 and 2024?
We are providing services for a few key upstream projects, such as the Manatee project and the Ocelot project. In addition to working with upstream producers, we have also collaborated with major EPC companies operating in Trinidad.
We have taken some of the equipment we use for the energy sector and deployed it for clients in other areas of industry. For example, we used one of our LiDAR drones to work on a property development project. We have been looking at incorporating new services and seeing how we can bring those to market.
Regionally, we have worked in Barbados on renewable energy and processing efficiency projects. We continue to have a team in Guyana, where the market demand from energy projects is increasing.

How are you strategising to tap new opportunities to fill demand in neighbouring energy markets?
The demand we are experiencing in Guyana is related to offshore energy projects requesting 3D scanning, as well as to the fabrication and construction industry. Previously, our activity in Guyana was mostly related to construction projects, but we are now seeing an uptick from energy-related projects. In Guyana, we are focusing on creating a new entity via a joint venture arrangement with a local Guyanese company. In Suriname, we will also focus on partnerships, and how we could apply our services there.
It takes a lot of time when you’re trying to build something from the ground up, especially when you’re going in early and potential clients aren’t aware of your services and the needs of the sector remain unclear. We saw that in Guyana. We’ve been visiting Guyana since 2014 and found that people didn’t know what the sector could look like. As a result, they didn’t know if they needed our services.

How would you compare the trends in demand in Guyana and Trinidad?
In Trinidad’s market, there is a higher demand for underground services – where we are asked to locate utilities below the surface by using GPR scanning. The energy sector in Trinidad is very mature so there is a greater focus on asset management. With more subsurface structures, there is more focus on underground location/detection solutions to avoid utility damage.
In Guyana, there are not as many underground structures to look after, so we are more involved in construction related to greenfield projects.

What role can the company play in the development of large-scale renewable energy projects?
Large-scale solar projects will require a large area of land to set up on, and this needs to be planned out precisely. For old sites being prepared to facilitate solar panels, it is especially important to do topographical and engineering work as there will be subsurface structures to consider as well. That is where we come in: we provide these services.
We have already become involved in groups working to develop the renewable energy sector in Trinidad, and in Barbados.

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• Guyana
• Suriname
• Trinidad and Tobago