We talked to Federico Arquero, ISI Oilfield Chemicals Engineering Chief, about the current situation of the company and COVID-19 pandemic general context.
The first quarter of the current year showed a 2020 period full of great development and production objectives as well as regional strategic plans for ISI, a leader in manufacturing chemical products for the oil and gas industry.
“We started off 2020 on the right foot since we could renew Integrated Management System ISO 9001 / ISO 1400 certification. We have advanced with our project to build a larger area for our headquarters and move it to PITEC industrial business park where we will have bigger storage rooms and laboratories, new offices and a renewed chemical plant. There we aim at developing useful processes and solutions for our customers.
We also had the pleasure of travelling to Houston where we attended a must-go event for the oil industry. It gathered experts from all over the world specialized in hydraulic frac and we could learn the latest news of such sector. However, at the same time, we were affected as the whole community by the well-known coronavirus,” Arquero explained.
ISI, as many other organizations, had to adapt to a new way of working to continue producing and being competitive but it was also necessary to look after its staff in a harder way. “As from the very beginning of the pandemic we focused on protecting our staff’s health by setting new ways of working to minimize their exposure to the virus since our employees are our most valuable asset. We did not throw up our hands, and we went on supplying products to meet our customers’ operational needs. They are as anxious as us to start working and continuing developing our country’s energy matrix”.
At the light of adverse circumstances, it is good to strengthen the company commitment to those who are facing a worst situation. That is why, ISI decided to do its part and donate 500 liters of alcohol gel to Florencio Varela and Lujan’s staff working in the health and security area among other sectors.
In the view of this unusual, critical situation we find ourselves in, the key to continue doing business is to adapt and maintain a balance. “We know that this crisis will leave its footprint behind in our country as well as in the world economic situation and our activity is not out of that. However, we believe that every crisis is an opportunity to reorganize things and become stronger”.
It is time we focused on operation efficiency, cost cuts, people’s safety as well as new ways of communicating.
We must learn from this situation and capitalize on it as a great experience so that in future crisis we have tools to face said hard moments. We all will need to adapt in such another way to the changes.
As far as we are concerned, we are ready to start working again and to continue offering solutions to the oil and gas industry as we have been doing for more than 26 years”, Arquero concluded.