Jose Magallanes joined Kemira in early 2022 as Key Account Manager for South America in Kemira’s Oilfield Technology group. He’s thoroughly enjoying life in his new role, where he gets to advise our clients across the continent on how Kemira’s high-quality solutions can help address their challenges.
The most important thing is being close to the customer and establishing a relationship.
Our customers are what matters most
Jose’s extensive experience working as a petroleum engineer in a service company gives him a clear insight into the needs of Kemira’s clients. “In my 25 years in the industry, I’ve learned a lot about the needs and drives of operators, service providers, and suppliers and what they bring to the energy-generation value chain,” he says. “Things have changed significantly during that time, but one constant is that the most important thing is being close to the customer, getting to know them, and establishing a relationship that allows us to really understand and satisfy their requirements.”
On a personal note, Jose adds that joining Kemira has proven to be a great opportunity to take advantage of the expertise he’s gained during his career while experiencing the industry from a new angle: “Having worked in Halliburton’s business development department for several years, I have a good grasp of the pressures our customers are under and how they respond to change, as well as their objectives and priorities, which helps me to align our offering with their needs.”
Jose also relishes the opportunity to travel and encounter different cultures: “I’m operating right across the continent, and every territory has its own distinct traditions and ways of doing business. We need to adapt our approach to meet the individual needs and customs of these diverse markets.” His main responsibility is securing long-term relationships: “Making sure our customers can continue to be confident in our services and technologies is an exciting challenge, and an important part of that is simply being available – the competition in our industry is strong, so our customers need to feel like we’re always close to them and on hand when they need us.”
Kemira is well prepared to help the energy sector achieve its ESG objectives.
A diverse region with diverse challenges
Jose points out that the South American oil and gas industry is facing significant challenges relating to unconventional plays, deepwater drilling, and mature fields – with each country having its own challenges to address: “In Argentina for instance, the biggest challenges are infrastructure and entering the development phase of the country’s large unconventional oil and gas reserves, which requires significant and efficient investment in materials, equipment, human resources, and technology. Meanwhile, a key requirement for Brazil is to take advantage of new opportunities by staying ahead of the curve with time and cost-efficient technologies. As a company, the diverse needs of the various local markets we operate in present us with the opportunity to assist our customers, governments, and other interested parties by making our experience and technology available to them,” says Jose.
In his current role, Jose supports our South American clients to tackle both their individual challenges and those faced by the industry at large, such as fulfilling environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets. “Reducing the carbon footprint is a challenge that’s fast becoming a priority in the region. Kemira is well prepared to help the energy sector achieve its objectives in this area, and as an account manager I’m in a strong position strategically to play a part in our fulfillment of this goal.”
Our cutting-edge R&D capabilities allow us to constantly innovate new solutions.
South America can be a key global player
In addition to the challenges, there are several opportunities for the South American oil and gas industry, with the region offering solutions to the rising global demand for energy. “We can fulfill these pressing needs by optimizing resources, reducing our carbon footprint, and importantly, switching to using produced water rather than fresh water,” Jose highlights. “There are enough reserves and resources to meet local energy needs while also exporting to other regions, with exploration and development investment critical to these efforts. The offshore market is another intriguing opportunity, with significant energy-generation capabilities in countries like Mexico and Argentina.”
Jose points out that the region has taken significant steps forward in recent years: “I’ve seen a number of new technologies developed locally during my time working in the industry, such as techniques for extracting oil and gas from tight formations. Coupled with the growing professionalism among local operators, these developments place the sector in an increasingly strong position on the global stage.”
Kemira has a big part to play
Jose feels that Kemira is perfectly placed to continue supporting our customers in South America: “We’re well-known for our high standards and modern manufacturing plants, our clients give consistently positive feedback on our product quality, and our cutting-edge R&D capabilities allow us to constantly innovate new solutions. Kemira’s portfolio spans upstream and downstream, in drilling, completion, production, and refineries, with friction reducers, drilling fluid chemicals, water treatment products, scale inhibitors, and more,” he says. “By applying technologies we’ve successfully developed in North America and Europe to tackle challenges like changing from fresh to produced water, we can collaborate with our South American clients to do the same here, meaning we’re ready for the challenges of tomorrow too.”
