His family name sounds familiar in the political arena, but Oscar “Carey” De Venecia Jr. chooses to explore a different field, in a bid to help the country produce more oil and energy for the future.

De Venecia, the 46-year-old president and chief executive of Basic Energy Corp., says he never felt the compulsion to go into politics. He is a member of the influential De Venecia political clan in Pangasinan and a nephew of former House Speaker Jose De Venecia Jr., who himself is involved in Basic Energy.

“Having my family name does not automatically give me the privilege of going into politics. I believe that wanting to serve our country is a common driving force to enter politics. However, it is so generic a reason. I believe a majority of us want to help our country and countrymen. Wanting to does not qualify one to run for [public] office though,” he says.

Carey’s father, Oscar De Venecia, is the chairman of the company while his uncle, former Speaker De Venecia, is a member of the board. Carey took the helm of Basic Energy in 2011, after being the chief operating officer since 2007.

“I can’t say I chose to enter the energy industry. I was raised and immersed in it. My father and uncle both served as chairmen and presidents of the company and got the company started in the energy business,” he says.

De Venecia says he is simply continuing the “tradition” with the hope of expanding Basic Energy’s exposure in the industry. Basic Energy, established in 1968, now engages in the exploration and development of oil and gas properties in the Philippines. It is also involved in the production of ethanol and development of geothermal energy resources.

De Venecia took up Economics and graduated with honors from the Fordham University in New York City in 1996. He was a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the International Economics Honors Society and the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society.

“I grew up with my father exposing me to the company and the industry, hence, my interest and feel for it. So, I’m grateful to them for giving me the opportunity to further their legacy,” he says.

Before joining Basic Energy, Carey served as the president of Forum Energy Philippines Corp., which was involved in the exploration of offshore areas for oil, gas and coal.

Carey, a past president of Rotary Club of Makati East and who holds the rank of Lt. Commander at Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary, says managing an energy firm is no different from managing non-energy companies because “one manages for success, with all the attendant responsibilities and sacrifices involved.”

“I believe managing any company is difficult, no matter its size or industry. It’s a great burden on any conscientious manager’s shoulders,” he says.

“In any industry, risk and challenges can be managed with proper planning and execution. A few years back we set a strategy for the company, a broad strategy with specific goals and objectives. We have sought to validate and keep to our plan,” he says.

De Venecia says like any company, Basic Energy had its share of challenges. He says the important thing is to get the right people to do the job.

“Thus, there is great competition, higher risks and a need for more forward thinking and planning. And the execution of these programs require significant to enormous sums of capital,” he says.

“Our industry being a highly technical and specialized field requires a lot of specialized skills. No one person can have all those skills. A team of specialists is vital, composed of people whose knowledge and expertise you can trust. I am very happy and privileged to have a great team of people working alongside me,” he says.

He says each member of his team brings a special skill and insight into “how we do things within our organization.”

“They are a blessing. In an industry that is becoming even more competitive, it becomes harder to find opportunities. We are fortunate enough to have been able to secure a portfolio of projects which are within the strategy our company has taken,” he says.

On Feb. 11, 2013, Basic Energy forged a joint venture agreement with Petrosolve Sdn Bhd, a company registered in Malaysia, which is into the business of developing oil fields and holds a technology for enhanced chemical oil recovery.

The joint venture entailed the establishment of a joint venture company in Hong Kong, which is 70-percent owned by Basic Energy and 30-percent owned by Petrosolve, which shall serve as the corporate vehicle for business relationships in connection with the management and operation of oil wells.

“Our mission focuses on delivering on our strategy, which we are passionate about. We hire people who share the same passion for what we are trying to achieve. This passion we try to resonate throughout the whole organization,” he says.

De Venecia says his management style involves teamwork as he values the opinions of every member of the team. He considers his team as family, with each member given roles to play in the household.

“I genuinely care for the members of the family. These people are my family outside my home. This is how it has always been in our company long before I ever came in. I think about them all the time. I worry about how they’re doing personally. Hopefully, I want them to say that they work with me and not for me. In the end though, it is part of my job to make decisions for the team. I have always been one to listen to my instincts or go with what my gut tells me. But snap decisions are a no-no for me,” he says.

De Venecia seeks the opinions of the team for any company endeavor. “By learning about them individually, I understand where they are coming from when they give their opinions and suggestions. This is always a factor to consider,” he says.

“I believe Donald Trump put it best when he said… Watch, listen, and learn. You can’t know it all yourself. Anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity,” he says.

De Venecia is not afraid to succeed in the same manner he is not afraid to fail. He recalls Henry Ford as saying: “If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you’re right.”

De Venecia says he is very interested in learning about new things. “I love to learn new things. I am challenged if there is something I do not know about. I try to spend time to understand and analyze my past mistakes and failures so I could learn from them. Failure could be the biggest motivator and teacher. As Andrew Grove put it… “Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive,” he says.

De Venecia is a voracious reader, especially of books by Dan Brown, because while they are fiction, they are based on facts and historical data. He also likes historical and biographical books. Among the books that made an impression on him is “The Celestine Prophecy” because it gave him a lot of insights to think about.

“Do some networking with smart people you haven’t seen in a while, read some books, take a class, do something to expand your knowledge and your horizons. You’ll be amazed at what ideas pop into your head,” he says.

While work allows him to travel to many interesting and exotic places, De Venecia prefers to go around the Philippines and other Asian countries for leisure.

“I always like to go home to Negros. It’s home for me,” he says.

He is also interested in squash, badminton, tennis, basketball, scuba diving and mountain biking.

De Venecia is a family man, preferring to spend his free and favorite pastime with his family. “For me, family is important. As I got older, I realized how important that is. I also like to play golf, although I don’t get to do it often, as I allocate all my free time, especially on weekends to spending time with the family as it’s the only time we are complete,” he says.

Source: http://manilastandardtoday.com/mobile/2014/03/30/chief-executive-explores-ph-for-oil-and-gas