A mere few months after cementing its relationship with Canadian company, the Crosbie Group, Farfan and Mendes says it is already reaping benefits as a result of the partnership.
The Crosbie Group – based in Newfoundland and Labrador – in 2017 began exploring Guyana as a potential investment market and in 2018, they formalised a partnership with Farfan and Mendes through a subsidiary company, Panthera Solutions.
Panthera Solutions provides offshore oil and gas services such as scaffolding, rope access services, insulation, industrial cleaning, coating applications/painting, surface preparation, fabric maintenance, crane operations and speciality maintenance services. Early this year, the two companies announced their shareholder agreement, where Crosbie holds 49 per cent shares and Farfan and Mendes holds 51 per cent.
The Crosbie Group has over 20 years’ experience working with international oil and gas industries.
Managing Director of Farfan and Mendes, Andrew Mendes, during an interview with the News Room on Tuesday, said certification and management are mandatory in order to be a consistent supplier in the oil and gas industry.
One of the benefits of the partnership is that employees of the local company are being trained here by the Crosbie Group, instead of having to travel overseas. Mendes further noted that the local employees have since been able to explore and develop their careers through this partnership.
“The benefits for our young people are that they have consistent well-paying jobs, we get to train to hell out of them and build their capacity,” Mendes said.
Mendes is also encouraging other local companies to get on board and jump on opportunities to partner with international companies so that they can expand and be part of the transformation that will come with the oil and gas industry.
“It’s really benefitted us as a company to running the rest of our traditional business in our normal market segments better. It has made us be a better company and provide better services and you know, Crosbie has been instrumental in helping that,” the Managing Director noted.
According to Mendes, this is proof that Guyanese companies have what it takes to service the industry.
“What we found over time as we try to position ourselves to provide services through Panthera, is that we have taken a lot of those systems and processes with the support of Crosbie and then applied them across our business,” the Managing Director noted.
Meanwhile, Crosbie’s Chief Operating Officer, Mark Collett, told the News Room that the intention is to replicate what the company does in Canada with Farfan and Mendes with the hope that it will grow bigger. Collett explained why they decided to do business in Guyana.
“In simple terms, it is the fastest-growing marketplace in the world. When we saw what was happening in Guyana, it was quite exciting to us because we see that Guyana was where Newfoundland was 25 years ago in terms of an industry that is quite going to change the country in many meaningful ways and we want to be a part of that.
“We could see it was a great opportunity to rewrite the story with a local partner,” Collett contended.
He noted that Farfan and Mendes also have a long track record of success in the mining industry.
Farfan and Mendes also launched another subsidiary in 2018, Jaguar Oilfield Services, which specialises in the manufacturing of custom wire rope slings and the supply of loose lifting equipment, as well as high-quality pressure and temperature measurement products.
