Sheldon Daniel off to BP's London headquarters
By
Roxanne Stapleton
Trinidad Express
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
05 06 07
Sheldon Daniel, bpTT's former VP Communications
and External Affairs, is about to start a new job
in St James, London at BP's headquarters, as the
director of Corporate Responsibility.
His successor will be Roxanne De Freitas, who
is coming to bpTT from another well-established
corporate entity, Unilever.
Daniel succeeded Donna Ramsammy at bpTT back in
February 2004, as she was on her way to BP's London
offices, to assume the position as head of Internal
Communications for BP's Global Exploration and
Production.
His is an almost nine year career with the energy
giant.
He started as a political analyst, particularly
to enhance the company's ability to lobby, as the
local energy environment could at various times
prove to be rather complex.
Daniel spoke to Business Express last week as
he was about to embark on this new phase of his
career, spreading his wings, flying into the wider
BP global expanse.
"I
succeeded Donna Ramsammy and it's interesting
that in this whole function of communication and
external affairs, in the Group you have Donna,
myself and Daniel Bailey, three of us, who will
be working at BP's London offices which is a big
achievement.
"I
think the Group is beginning to recognise Trinidad
and Tobago as a centre of excellence in
communications, how we involve ourselves in the
local community.
"BPTT
accounts for 10 per cent of BP's production and
from a manpower point of view we're beginning
to contribute to the Group in a manner that begins
to look more like our contribution on the production
scale.
"Its about the Group recognising there are
some great skills and we could add to the thinking
at the Group level," Daniel said.
Zoning in on his perception as to what he brings
to the table, he noted that as a contributor, he
tries to bring a little more structure to the way
the oil and gas giant interacts with the external
world, adding a little more science to communication.
"One
example of that would be the sale of TSP (Teak
Samaan and Poui) fields and the way we
went about it.
"That was fraught with all types of risks,
if we did it in a way that really was not thoughtful," he
indicated.
For the sale, a lot of internal planning was done
to ensure that all relevant stakeholders and their
needs would be seen to, he said.
"We
spoke with them extensively. We had a lot of
conversations with the Government about
what it meant, could do and improve the productivity
of an aging field as someone else took it on, covering
all the technicalities that could have proven difficult.
"At
the end of it we achieved what we set out to
do, which was divestment with dignity and
ease and a lot of people outside of Trinidad and
Tobago didn't think we could do it as fast as we
could, because of how complex it was."
And of that transaction, he's very proud.
Not
wanting to boast or be interpreted as arrogant,
he laid the point that bpTT is a "significant
contributor" to Government revenue and GDP
which goes upwards of 15 per cent, he said making
sure that they interact with the country in the
right and responsible manner is tantamount to their
operations.
"We hold this interaction very dear to us
and that is not spin. We accept the responsibility," he
insisted.
The new posting will initially be for two years
and requires Daniel to be accountable for two distinct
areas.
Dealing with international NGOs (nongovernmental
organisations), which can impact BP's business,
such as Green Peace, World Wild Life Fund, some
of the other specific NGOs in Asia and Africa,
some of the former Russian territories, as well
as the environmental NGOs in the US, many linked
to BP's business in Alaska and which are quite
influential in the scheme of things.
It will entail maintaining relationships and keeping
open lines of communication with them, ensuring
that they have information about what the company
is doing at each step.
The second tenet of his portfolio will be to foster
renewed thinking on BP's Corporate Responsibility
Policy and coming up with recommendations for change.
"We
currently have a strategy under which our framework
of operations for various countries
exists. It's been in place for some time and changes
are taking place and this is a good time to rethink
that.
"We're
looking at the things we've been doing and how
they've actually been working in terms
of social interventions, assessments.
"It's
a re-look at what we need to do in countries
as varied in the North Sea area, very
different from Angola, Azerbaijan, Indonesia and
how we are responsive in a relevant way in all
of those environments, but yet still have a thread
of unity of purpose, being a multinational in these
locations."
Asked to paint the perception of BP in the wider
world, in the wake of the 2005 Texas City explosion
which the claimed the lives of 15 and caused injuries
to several others, he admitted that the company
took a major hit.
"Texas
City and the subsequent reports, the Baker Report,
the American Chemical Safety Board
suggested there were some things we could have
done differently.
"In
many ways there was some loss of confidence,
Lord Browne's reputation also took a hit.
"However, the response the company has had
to making a difference, learning from those reports
- if you only knew the effort internally now, to
make sure that we drive this issue of process safety
(the main finding) and how we look at risk and
improving safety in the business, you'll understand," he
stressed.
He also revealed that he is part of a team, which
has been asked to come up with suggestions as to
how to respond to the Baker Panel Report.
He admitted that there wouldn't be any quick fixes
or knee jerk reactions, but ever careful planning.
On the eve of his departure, Daniel said he was
saturated with mixed emotions and though he was
going on to a new adventure, he would miss the
openness, which had been developed among his team
players at bpTT.
"I am going to miss my team," he said,
as he sighed and paused. "I'm looking forward
to this completely different challenge. This is
no longer going to be only about Trinidad and Tobago,
it's going to be about global issues and I will
try to bring in as well, a bpTT and very unique
Trinidad and Tobago perspective," he chuckled.
Trinidad
Express
Wednesday, May 2nd 2007
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©2007 Trinidad Express. All Rights Reserved.
