The
Trinidad Guardian
PORT
SPAIN
Petroleumworld.com
02 19 06
Prime
Minister Patrick Manning admitted yesterday that cross border
talks had broken down after the signing of the PetroCaribe agreement
last July.
Manning
said yesterday that the talks were suspended after the agreement
but that T&T had received word late last week that Venezuela
wanted to resume talks.
“There
was a coincidence between the suspension of the talks and the
rise of that issue. Whether the two are related, I’m in
no position to say,” Manning said.
Manning
made the announcement after a meeting with ChevronTexaco chairman
and chief executive David O’Reilly at Whitehall.
O’Reilly
re-affirmed his company’s desire to be part of T&T’s
energy development, including further oil and gas development.
More
importantly, ChevronTexaco has found gas reserves that straddle
the T&T/Venezuela border. On the T&T side of the border,
ChevronTexaco holds Block 6d along with British Gas. That gas
remains in the ground while both countries work out how the
reserves will be shared, what is known as a unitisation agreement.
“We
look forward to the unitisation agreement and once that unitisation
issue has been resolved it will enable further development of
gas resources in the region to the benefit of both countries,”
O’Reilly said.
He
said that ChevronTexaco would be looking to use these reserves
in T&T’s LNG sector as well as in other downstream
projects.
That
usage, though, awaits the outcome of the cross border talks.
“As
an investor we need clarity around how that gas is going to
be allocated between both countries. These can be developed
to the mutual benefit of both countries. I’m confident
it will happen,” O’Reilly said.
Manning
said he was confident the talks would finish soon but would
not give a date.
“We
don’t expect it will be long because these discussions
were in fact ongoing,” he said. “I am optimistic
because I suspect the political will now exists that we can
bring this to a successful conclusion in a very short space
of time.”
O’Reilly
shared Manning’s optimism.
“I
think this project is going to go ahead based on a commercial
reality. It’s good for both T&T and Venezuela,”
he said. “As far as the larger issue is concerned, we
invest for the long term. Our objectives are commercial. We
invest to create value not just for the country, which is important,
but also for employees, suppliers, the community at large. The
political issues are not issues for a private enterprise like
ours. It’s the commercial issues that are important.”
Manning
added: “and we will handle the political ones.”
T&T
and Barbados did not sign the PetroCaribe agreement that caused
the crossborder talks to come to a halt. The agreement essentially
puts T&T’s oil exports in jeopardy because of preferential
payment terms offered by Venezuela.
Yesterday,
Manning said T&T stood by his neighbours’ agreement
to sign.
