Guardian
file photo
BHP’s
Kairi Platform under construction. The platform was constructed
in La Brea.
The
Trinidad Guardian
PORT
SPAIN
Petroleumworld.com
02 19 06
Last
week’s Petroleum Conference 2006 (TTPC 2006) brought together
over 450 participants from industry, government, academia and
other interest groups. Approximately 70 delegates came from
outside of T&T (a big increase from previous years), representing
13 different countries.
With
a wide range of presenters, discussions were wide ranging and
varied. There were, however, a number of themes that ran through
many of the presentations and the discussions in the corridors.
These included the issue of gas reserves, of sustainability
and where the emphasis should be placed for further downstream
projects, the current and planned bid rounds and relations between
T&T and Venezuela (in the context of PetroCaribe and cross-border
unitisation).
Local
content continues to be an issue that underpinned much of the
discussion at the TTPC and the formal launch of the Government’s
Local Content Policy at the conference marked an important step
forward in this debate.
The
issue of current gas reserves was brought into focus by the
opening statement from the President of the South Chamber. The
discussion about our reserve situation hinges around two issues:
firstly, what should be done to prove up more reserves and ensure
that our reserve to production ratio increases and secondly,
where should the emphasis be placed in future downstream developments
to ensure that T&T receives maximum benefit from the remaining
gas reserves.
The
policy of deepening the extent of downstream processing that
takes place within T&T was discussed in a number of presentations
at the TTPC, including some discussion on specific petrochemical
products and processes. A number of other presentations took
a closer look at the future prospects of the liquefied natural
gas industry (where the majority of our current gas production
is currently directed) and especially at the potential of the
North American gas market.
Discussions
about the T&T reserve situation were placed in an interesting
wider context by a presentation on the Argentinean oil and gas
sector where depletion of gas reserves is well advanced and
the country has moved to being a net importer of gas.
With
respect to exploration for new oil and gas reservoirs, the current
on and nearshore bid round and the planned deep water bid rounds
were obviously major topics for discussion at the TTPC. There
was a panel discussion on the deep water bid round, with particular
emphasis being placed on the fiscal and other non-fiscal terms
that will accompany this planned bid round. There was a lively
discussion on the current government fiscal proposals for this
bid round and an open exchange of views and proposals about
how we can best manage exploration and development in deep waters
environments.
Debate
on this matter is likely to continue over the next few months
while the Government finalises the details of the bid round.
There
was also discussion concerning the current on and nearshore
bid round and specifically on whether enough was being done
to ensure that local service and oil production companies could
benefit from this new exploration phase. The future of the local
independent oil production companies, in general, continues
to be a major discussion point, despite the focus of this conference
on the gas economy.
The
local content issue remains one of the most important and lively
topics of conversation at the TTPC. The launch of the Government’s
Local Content Policy marks an important milestone in the continued
debate. The Government has clearly outlined its expectations
in terms of local content.
The
issue for government and industry is now to ensure that the
general intent outlined in the policy finds its way into the
actual day-to-day practices and processes of companies and the
Ministry of Energy. This will inevitably involve continued further
monitoring and evaluation, with the annual TTPC being an important
annual forum at which progress can be measured.
The
other issue that was much discussed was the whole issue of relations
between T&T, the rest of the Caricom region and with Venezuela.
The TTPC benefited from a review of the Suriname energy sector,
by the Surinamese Minister of Natural Resources, including information
on the both the hydrocarbon sector and power generation (principally
from hydro-electric sources).
The
whole issue of relations with Venezuela were a major topic of
conversation. There are two separate but overlapping subjects
of discussion with respect to these relations.
Firstly,
the status and progress of talks on cross-border unitisation
of gas and whether there will be any agreement from Venezuela
to export gas to T&T for processing and secondly, the issue
of the PetroCaribe agreement.
These
are both issues that are likely to be further discussed in the
future.
As
in previous years, the TTPC has clearly laid out a number of
policy issues that are likely to dominate energy sector discussions
for much of 2006. We look forward to further healthy and lively
debate on all of these topics.
The
South Trinidad Chamber of Industry and Commerce in conjunction
with the Geological Society would like to publicly thank our
prime partners, sponsors, speakers and delegates for once again
making this conference a major success.
