Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Aujourd'hui 05:53

Rowley: Trinidad and Tobago to engage US on energy projects

The Prime Minister says his government intends to engage the Donald Trump-led US administration on the importance of several energy projects, including the Dragon Project and the Manakin-Cocuina Project. Dr Rowley said the projects were important not only to TT, but also to the region's energy security. “Energy security is a major issue for the majority of countries in the Caribbean with oil and gas accounting for 60 per cent of the energy needs of the region,” Rowley said. “There is an opportunity for the petroleum-producing countries in the region to pool their resources and optimise their monetisation using existing infrastructure to the benefit of the resource owner and wider community.” Rowley gave the keynote address at the TT Energy Conference 2025 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Conference Centre in Port of Spain at the opening ceremony on February 10. He added that as a region susceptible to the effects of climate change, pooling of resources could help reduce the region's carbon footprint. “It is this principle that governs economic co-operation between TT and Venezuela and which we have extended to Guyana, Grenada, Suriname and Barbados, Caricom partners with whom we have signed a MoU (memorandum of understanding) to facilitate future co-operation and collaboration in energy matters,” Rowley said. “Our energy assets, comprising LNG assets, ten ammonia plants and eight methanol plants, are not all operating at full capacity due to gas constraints.” He said it had been confirmed for decades that Venezuela and TT had shared gas fields on the border. According to standard procedures, the initial approach was to try to facilitate joint exploitation of those reserves. For 15 years, TT pursued that exercise, but it did not bring the country closer to getting gas to shore. Rowley said Government had to act, considering declining TT reserves became more critical. The government approached the Government of Venezuela with a proposal to have both countries abandon the unitisation approach to exploiting cross-border fields. “By obtaining early agreement on this idea, it opened the door for swift access to the Loran-Manatee field followed by other similarly placed deposits,” Rowley said. “The government, with the support of Caricom and the Dominican Republic, also simultaneously requested a review by the US Government on the sanctions on the Dragon gas Project.” He recalled that after discussions and negotiations with US government officials, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) approved a request by TT to waive ongoing sanctions against Venezuela to allow for the development of the neighbouring Dragon gas field. “This was followed by a 30-year licence between Venezuela and TT that grants selected operators, Shell and NGC, the right to produce and export gas to TT. Rowley added that in May 2024, his government received an OFAC licence to pursue, with Venezuela, the exploitation and development of hydrocarbon reservoirs of the Manakin-Cocuina Field. “The exploration and production companies have been undertaking preparatory work to bring Manakin-Cocuina and Dragon Projects, which cumulatively possess 5.2 trillion tcf gas, on stream in the shortest interval,” he said. The TT and Venezuelan governments, and their energy stakeholders have made great strides in advancing the development of both the Dragon Project and the Manakin-Cocuina Project. Rowley recalled the Russian-Ukraine conflict, which caused changes in oil and gas prices. “Geopolitics can work for you or against you. In 2022 due to the Russian- Ukraine conflict Henry Hub gas price averaged US$6.45 per mmbtu as compared to US$3.83 per mmbtu in 2021 and the WTI oil price averaged US$94.53 per barrel as compared to US$68.17 per barrel in 2021,” Rowley said. “This positively impacted our energy revenue. The sanctioning of the Loran-Manatee and Dragon projects was not in our best interests. The 2018 US decision denied TT access to the Dragon gas field, which was projected to come on stream in 2020 and sterilised Loran- Manatee project.” He was referring to the joint venture project – the Loran-Manatee and the Venezuelan Dragon Gas field – that was sanctioned for development and monetisation in TT. In 2018, a term sheet was finalised for gas to be supplied from the Dragon field and a development plan for the Loran- Manatee field was being prepared by the exploration and production companies. However, both initiatives were curtailed owing to sanctions imposed by the US Government, which blocked US companies from doing business with the Venezuelan energy company, PDVSA. The post Rowley: Trinidad and Tobago to engage US on energy projects appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.