PM
Manning: More gas for TT
By
Clint Chan Tack
Trinidad and Tobago News
PORT
SPAIN
Petroleumworld.com
02 26 06
PRIME
MINISTER Patrick Manning yesterday expressed optimism that Trinidad
and Tobago and Venezuela will soon reach an agreement to utilise
their cross-border natural gas reserves, and that gas will soon
be available "for the further development of industry in
TT and the export of natural gas."
Speaking
at a news conference at Whitehall with Chevron Texaco chairman/CEO
David O’Reilly, the Prime Minister said once TT and Venezuela
reach agreement on the unitisation of their respective Manatee
and Loran marine acreages, Chevron Texaco will advance proposals
to develop the gas in both fields to the mutual benefit of both
nations.
Noting
that TT-Venezuela gas talks recently hit a snag due to concerns
about Venezuela’s Petro Caribe initiative, Manning said
the foreign ministries of both nations are now working out an
appropriate schedule for the continuation of the talks. "I
am optimistic that the political will now exists and that we
will bring this to a very successful conclusion in a very short
time," the Prime Minister stated. Manning said he has not
spoken with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez about the time
frame for the talks.
Saying
he was unaware of concerns raised by former PNM finance minister
Wendell Mottley — that Petro Caribe could be harmful to
TT and Caricom —Manning said Petro Caribe was discussed
during last week’s 17th Inter-Sessional Caricom Heads
of Government conference in Port-of- Spain. He explained that
while TT believed that other Caricom nations were not following
the provisions of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (where Petro
Caribe was concerned), "all of that is now behind us."
Manning said Caricom governments were free to sign the Petro
Caribe agreement if they wished but "because we (TT) understand
what is involved in their energy bills, the outflow of foreign
exchange that engenders and the implications for the stability
of their economies, the Government of TT is prepared to cooperate
with those countries in that venture."
The
Prime Minister said the Manatee and Loran fields possessed significant
natural gas reserves which would form a critical part of Government’s
plans to construct ten new energy sector plants in TT over the
next two years at a cost of US$11 billion. He said this excluded
the US$650 million upgrade of Petrotrin’s Pointe-a-Pierre
refinery which begins this year. Government’s priority,
he said, is the utilisation of gas for domestic industries over
exportation of gas.
O’Reilly
said Chevron Texaco was looking forward to a long-term association
with TT and had been doing business in TT since 1913 (as Texaco).
Manning said Chevron Texaco’s activities in TT demonstrated
that this country offered an attractive investment climate to
international businesses.
