Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 25/Nov 04:42

Energy flowing like oil

THE EDITOR: There is a plain fact we should all be able to agree on: energy is not an abstract ledger entry – it is factories humming, ships calling the port, young men and women learning trades and paying mortgages. Over the last months the new administration has moved deliberately to put those basic, practical things back at the centre of policy. The government’s actions – from successful talks with major operators to cross-border diplomacy – show a clear effort to translate manifesto promises into work that people can feel. Take bpTT’s Cypre subsea development. What began as Phase 1 and moved through Phase 2 has now delivered first gas and the second tranche of wells came online ahead of schedule – a direct, measurable increase in feedstock for our plants and a shot of confidence to the whole supply chain. That is not spin; it is real capacity coming on stream that helps factories, keeps jobs and shores up revenue for public services. At the same time the ministry has been reopening doors overseas. Negotiations and awards to international firms – EOG resources for two shallow-water PSCs and the reported award of ultra-deepwater blocks to ExxonMobil – are important signals that TT is again playing to win in upstream investment. Those awards and talks matter because they bring seismic work, rig crews, local contracts and the slow, steady wealth that funds schools and hospitals. Diplomacy is also part of the picture. Formal energy talks with Guyana set for February will be vital for regional co-operation on cross-border reservoirs and supply stability. When managed well, those discussions can unlock mutually beneficial arrangements and reduce the risk that our industries face sudden curtailments when supply is tight. All of this must be read against the baseline the people inherited: a long period of declining production, missed opportunities to replace ageing fields and bid rounds that produced disappointing uptake. Independent reviews and sector studies show natural gas output fell sharply over the last decade – a trend that made curtailments and downstream pain predictable, not surprising. The government’s bid rounds, PSC awards and the push to get projects like Cypre to first gas are practical attempts to arrest that decline. Government policy promises two linked things: prudent stewardship of hydrocarbon wealth and a deliberate pathway to diversify the economy with renewables and new industries. The record so far – enforcing local-content requirements in PSCs, courting seasoned operators, and launching renewable and efficiency initiatives alongside upstream investment – is consistent with that twin approach. The next phase will be implementation: transparent contracts, measurable local hiring and clear reporting of revenue expectations. Critics will remind us of risks: price swings, environmental safeguards and the dangers of over-reliance on hydrocarbons. They are right to. But sensible leadership does not ignore those risks; it manages them. What we should now demand from industry is rigorous transparency, enforceable local participation, and steady follow-through on the manifesto’s green and diversification pledges. When the new gains are turned into training programmes in Point Fortin, La Brea and environs, and local yards and service firms win real business, and when renewables are pushed forward alongside upstream growth, TT will have done more than return to business as usual. We will have used our legacy wisely – so energy really does flow like oil: smoothly, visibly and to the benefit of ordinary citizens. DANIEL THOMAS Las Cuevas The post Energy flowing like oil appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.