T&T/Jamaica
still discussing LNG price
The Trinidad Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworld.com 02 05 06
Last week Wednesday, Jamaica’s Minister of Science and
Technology with responsibility for Energy, Phillip Paulwell,
was interviewed by the Trinidad Guardian’s business editor,
Anthony Wilson, and a group of Trinidad journalists who were
in Jamaica as guests of Digicel.
After
discussing telecom matters with Paulwell, the T&T journalists
were curious to get the minister’s views on the proposed
shipment of natural gas to Jamaica, the country’s ongoing
search for its own energy resources and who he supports in the
race to be the next Prime Minister of Jamaica.
Q:
What is the latest on the regasification plant that Jamaica
proposes to build?
A:
We are in dialogue with T&T. We are awaiting finalisation
of the agreement for the supply of liquefied natural gas and
we have established a framework whereby both the National Gas
Company and the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica are pursuing
this project 50/50. The last limb of the project is the ascertainment
of the date whereby the gas will be available to Jamaica. While
we are doing that, we are doing all of the preliminary work.
So we are still on track and we are hoping that it will be successful.
Q:
Do you have an agreement on price?
A:
We have an agreement that will be reviewed once the gas is available.
Q:
What is the price that Jamaica will receive?
A:
I think that it would be more appropriate to await the review
then we would be able to share the various components with you.
Q:
But there must be some ball-park figure, some sort of average
that you are working with?
A:
No, we are negotiating and you don’t want to negotiate
in public.
Q:
Is there a relationship with Henry Hub? (the US benchmark for
natural gas).
A:
I don’t think, again, we can, at this time, speak on that.
We have to enable the government to negotiate.
Q:
Are you saying that you have been told by Port-of-Spain that
there is a problem of availability of natural gas?
A:
I am not too sure that it is a problem. I think what we now
need is to be assured of the timeline for the delivery or receipt
of the natural gas and once we have that all other things will
fall in place.
Q:
How soon do you want it?
A:
We are working on a very fast timetable.
Q:
Coming back to the price issue. I know that there was some concern
in Jamaica that Port-of-Spain was saying that there has to be
a Caribbean gas price which has to bear some relationship with
Henry Hub. Has that issue been worked through?
A:
I think that that is one of the issues we are trying to settle.
Q:
At Caricom?
A:
No, it is a bilateral negotiation.
Q:
There was some consideration at some point about referring the
matter to the Caribbean Court of Justice?
A:
That is not the case now. We are still pursuing the bilateral
talks.
Q:
What about the next bid-round for energy blocks offshore Jamaica.
A:
The good news is that we have been given the approval of the
government to enter into private negotiations with companies
which are keen although they did not participate in the first
bid-round.
So
we are going to be issuing field licences out of the first bid
round and thereafter we are going to meet with some of the companies
that are still very interested and if we can work a deal with
them, we will pursue that instead of going to another bid round.
A
bid round is not very attractive unless you have evidence of
gushing oil.
Q:
Is there any such evidence?
A:
Our data reveals that there is a high level of prospectivity
in and around Jamaica and that there is a large system somewhere
justifying it.
Q:
Who is going to be the next president of the PNP after Prime
Minister PJ Patterson steps down?
A:
Portia Simpson-Miller.
Q:
Do you support her?
A:
Yes.
