'Don’t reinvent the wheel'

‘Don’t reinvent the wheel’

Feb 15, 2023 News

…T&T PM offers up facilities to help Guyana, other regional partners to cut costs on new infrastructure, effectively monetize oil and gas resources

By Kiana Wilburg

Kaieteur News – With Trinidad and Tobago’s (T&T) collection of world-class oil and gas infrastructure, there is no need for nations like Guyana to reinvent the wheel by pumping millions of tax dollars into new facilities to refine their oil and gas resources. They can cut significant costs on infrastructure by utilizing what is already in place in their neighbour’s backyard.

This was the crux of the message delivered by Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Dr. Keith Rowley at yesterday’s opening of the International Energy Conference and Expo – Guyana 2023.

Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Keith Rowley

This year’s conference is themed: “Harnessing Energy for Development”.

Rowley in his presentation was keen to note that his homeland has the relevant infrastructure to help Guyana and other nations effectively monetize their oil and gas resources, noting that the infrastructure is readily available.

The Trinidadian leader said his country has 10 ammonia plants, seven methanol plants, four Liquefied Natural Gas plants, an iron and steel complex, and an oil refinery which recently produced up to 140,000 barrels of oil per day.

“Our current natural gas production averages 2.8 billion cubic feet of gas per day and we are still exploring the market for a user of our refinery as mentioned. Trinidad and Tobago therefore provides a viable option for those countries that wish to optimize the monetization of their hydrocarbons without incurring substantial capital expenditure and not to mention delay in monetization,” he said.

Rowley was keen to note the commencement of the coveted Dragon Gas Project which was left in limbo some years ago. Kaieteur News previously reported that the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently granted Trinidad and Tobago a waiver to explore the Dragon natural gas field in Venezuela. The US$1 billion deal was initially signed between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela in August 2018. Those involved included energy giant Shell, Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, and TT’s National Gas Company (NGC).

The Dragon deal would have seen T&T developing the field which is estimated to produce approximately 150 million standard cubic feet of gas a day. The gas was supposed to be imported through a billion-dollar pipeline to the Hibiscus platform off the northwest coast of T&T. The platform is jointly owned by the T&T government, NGC and Shell.

The deal was left in limbo after the US imposed sanctions on Venezuela in 2019 but was been restarted due to the lifting of the sanctions.

“This is what is possible when there is cooperation among nations,” the PM said, adding that he remains open to discussion with other CARICOM neighbours on the benefits of leveraging each other’s resources and expertise.

Rowley also noted that his country stands ready to assist Guyana in developing programmes to meet the necessary training needs for energy personnel. “Trinidad possesses a number of governmental and non-governmental agencies that have been meeting the human resource development needs of the energy and industrial sector as well as the emerging oil and gas economies,” PM Rowley said.

He said too that regional leaders have a window of opportunity to take a proactive approach in pooling collective knowledge to optimize new opportunities going forward.

In conclusion, the CARICOM leader said, “We must use our energy resources for the benefit of all our people to build resilience and create energy security.”

Dr. Rowley said he has every confidence that the spirit of the CARICOM community, which has been key to its success, will ensure the Caribbean is an economic force to be reckoned with.

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Dr. Keith Rowley, International Energy Conference and Expo – Guyana 2023, Natural Gas plants, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

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