Think big oil

Think big.

If you want to get ahead in life and be wildly successful in business, this is the counsel of the inimitable Donald J Trump in his book of the same title.

San Miguel Corp  (PSE: SMC) president Ramon Ang must have taken heed of this counsel when he recently declared that his diversifying conglomerate is looking for a big oil or natural gas field as its next target for acquisition.

“If we are able to buy one of those, it would be like printing money forever,” Ang said as a matter- of- factly.

Well, not exactly. That could happen if you execute your plan flawlessly. While big oil is big business, it has its share of gargantuan risks. One thing, nation owners could suddenly gain epiphany that the resources that lie within their borders belong to their people (clap! clap! for the grandstanding) and seize your oil assets. Look at what happened to Venezuela when Hugo Chavez—bless his soul—seized control of the country. Or to neighboring Argentina when its president Cristina Fernandez forcibly took control of ownership of Spain-owned YPF Repsol.

Or you could have a blow-out as in the Gulf of Mexico resulting to oil spill that cost the oil rig owner billions of dollars in damages, or you tanker runs aground somewhere in Alaska and oil spills out causing catastrophic environmental damage.

There are also risks caused deliberately.  Militants may attack your facilities as in Algeria, or the Arab spring erupts in your area of operations as in Libya and Syria.

All of these are surely at the back of Ang’s mind when he uttered those words. But, if your business has to grow, take heed of Trump’s next piece of advice: Take chances. Be a doer, not only a dreamer.

“We have a full force of people pursuing these deals,” Ang reveals.

Surely, he must be kind enough to help develop our struggling miniscule oil field prospects off the coast of Palawan? Oh, no, “those are toys”. Kind of small for his taste.

Credit and salutation should go to Ang just for thinking along those lines if one were to think about the future of this country. We are one of the few countries in Asia which do not have an oil champion seeking oil production outside the borders. Even our small neighbours are doing that. Malaysia has Petronas combing for opportunities and Thailand’s PTT following a similar plan.

It seems Ang is dead serious about his plan, no matter what the costs. Even if he has to let go of major assets like its brewery business or its power generation projects under SMC Global Power Holdings which are only taking off as we write.

“In business there is no such thing as sentimental value”, Ang mused.

Let’s sit and watch Ang’s designs unfolding.