We learn how a key supplier to the oil and gas industry is using a combination of excellent service and quality products to punch above their weight in the industry.

At Bandera Oil Tools the company works according to one creed, to always seeks the total satisfaction of its clients. It is a recommended partner to the oil and gas industry, selling or hiring out an extensive range of equipment and tools ranging from mud pumps and drill pipes to under reamers, hole openers, BOPs, and casing and tubing. Bandera Oil Tools was formed in 2002 when it was founded as a management-owned company, although this year that all changed when the company was acquired by Anfield Services Ltd.

Anfield Services is a wellbore intervention company that, like Bandera Oil Tools, operates out of Trinidad and Tobago. Bandera Oil Tools’ new parent company specialises in providing a variety of technical downhole fishing services for the drilling and workover operations in the oil and gas industry. With its impressive brand portfolio and commitment to total customer satisfaction, it is not hard to say why Bandera Oil Tools was an appealing acquisition.

But despite carrying a lot of heft in the regional oil and gas industry, Bandera Oil Tools is actually a relatively small team of people.

“Bandera Oil Tools primarily consists of just myself and my right hand, Alicia Maharaj, who handles our logistics and purchasing,” says Marc Sitaram, Operations Manager of Bandera Oil Tools. “I run all the operations, secure contracts and develop new business. We are a small company, but our relationship with clients has kept us in business over the years. The customer service they get from us keeps them coming back.”

Of course, all businesses will wax lyrical about the quality of customer service that they can offer, but Bandera Oil Tools is a company that will genuinely go the extra mile as standard.

“If a client were to contact us to change a nozzle in a drill bit, I would come and do that for them without any charge where with other companies that would be a longer process,” Sitaram points out. It is this swift process and close attention to customers that give Bandera Oil Company the personal touch in a marketplace that is frequently dominated by far larger businesses that are often far more opaque to customers in their operations.

“The challenges Bandera faces include competing against bigger companies. We’re in a market with names such as Baker Hughes that are better known and more established, which means we have to work hard to get our name out there,” Sitaram tells us candidly.

However, while Bandera Oil Tools itself is a relatively small company, it represents and distributes some of the biggest and best-recognised brands on the market. The challenge is that while the quality of the products and the name recognition is there, Bandera does not have the sheer capital backing of larger corporations.

“We represent some of the biggest drilling service companies in the world, including Derrick Shakers, Ulterra PDC Bits, and Bestolife Premium Compounds,” Sitaram explains. “But we’re competing against bigger name companies that are able to put together competitive packages for their client in a way that is very hard for a small company to go up against.”

But while Bandera Oil Tools might not have that level of capital to fall back on, it is still able to compete in terms of agility, service, and price.

“We stay competitive through our prices. We’ve got the lowest prices in the market but still provide the high levels of service that our customers require,” Sitaram says. “Some companies require you to give 24 hours’ notice for call-outs for drill bits, part replacements and fittings. That is not the case with us. Call me now and I will get that drill bit to you today.”

A Time for Change

Ultimately, the quality that Bandera Oil Tools is able to offer is built on the dedication and hard work of its small but committed staff.

“Bandera Oil Tools is small, the key staff are me, the operations manager, my co-worker, under our Directors, Michael Anton and Kevin Wakefield,” Sitaram tells us. “We’ve been operating like this for 18 years. The nature of the work means that you don’t need a lot of people, because most of the work is sales work.”

However, although Bandera Oil Tools is a small company by any measure, the business’s recent change in ownership means that it now has a far broader resource pool to draw upon.

“Now we’re under Anfield Services, Bandera Oil Tools still remains the same,” Sitaram says. “It still operates on its own and we’ve maintained our independence. But if a situation arises where we need to use more people, we have access to those resources thanks to our position as part of the Anfield Group.”

Under the Anfield Group, Bandera Oil Tools is the agent businesses including Bestolife, Ulterra and Derrick Shakers for the region for over five years, as well as KATS Pipe Coatings and soon, Tenaris Casing. While the buyout has certainly opened doors for Bandera, Sitaram insists that under the hood it is still the same agile, dedicated company.

“The buyout hasn’t changed things a lot. We have a little more support, financially, and Anfield Services is an efficient tools company with a lot of work offshore,” Sitaram says. “It means we have more finances available in case we need to expand, as well as access to their other resources.”

Indeed, talking with Sitaram it is clear he has a lot of big plans for the future.

“It all depends on the oil industry for the next couple of years. If the oil industry in Trinidad & Tobago progresses, we will definitely be expanding,” he says. “We have a number of prospective areas we’re working on right now.”

Perhaps surprisingly, Bandera Oil Tools is considering a move beyond the oil and gas industry.

“One option we’re considering is tapping into the aviation industry,” Sitaram says. “We’ve been working on that for a couple of months now, so hopefully within a month, I’ll know if we’re going into that sector once I’ve got a response from helicopter services and national carrier company. We need to diversify.”

Whatever happens, with its core values and passionate team, we are expecting big things for this small company.