Page 5 - LatAmOil Week 09 2023

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil

“T&T has the energy infrastructure to monetise in-country,” he commented.
hydrocarbon resources produced by its Carib- Bharrat also pointed out that Guyanese
bean neighbours.,” he was quoted as saying by authorities had received a strong and positive
Trinidad & Tobago Guardian. “The country response to the request for proposals (RFP)
possesses 10 ammonia plants, seven metha- it had issued for the refinery project several
nol plants, four LNG plants, an iron and steel months ago. Georgetown is eager to evaluate
complex [that] at peak performance utilised as these bids and is not looking to dismiss Trinidad
feedstock 4bn cubic feet [113.3mn cubic metres] and Tobago’s invitation to make use of Petrotrin,
of natural gas per day and an oil refinery which he said.
processed up to 140,000 barrels of oil per day “[It’s] not that we have refused the Prime
[bpd]. Our current natural gas production aver- Minister Rowley because of any other reason
ages 2.8 bcf [79.3 mcm] per day, and we are still other than we are moving towards having our
exploring the market for a user for the [Petro- own,” he stated. “I am sure you would have seen Guyana has
trin] oil refinery.” the request for proposals in the newspaper. I
Rowley reiterated that Trinidad and Tobago think [we] received nine proposals.” been working
was willing to let Guyana and other oil pro-
ducers use the Petrotrin refinery, which has Past examples to develop
remained idle for several years, to process its Bharrat has a point in that Georgetown has spe-
crude production. The prime minister had said cific reasons for declining Port of Spain’s offer to its own
in January that Port of Spain was ready to offer make use of the Petrotrin plant. It is worth not- capabilities,
the plant to Georgetown specifically – and more ing, though, that this is not the first example of
broadly, to any outside investor that remained this dynamic between the two countries. even though
interested. Trinidad and Tobago has pointed out before
that it is home to a wide variety of locally owned qualified
Availability vs. attractiveness and operated oilfield service companies, thanks
But mere availability is not enough to make to its own decades-long history of involvement companies
Petrotrin attractive. And indeed, Guyanese gov- in oil and gas projects. It has also talked up its and trained
ernment officials made it clear in January that ability to serve as a ready-made service base for
they did not want the existing refinery. More- neighbouring countries – new producers such personnel are
over, they reiterated last week that they had not as Guyana and aspiring new producers such as
changed their minds. Suriname. And yet Guyana and Suriname have nearby in T&T
According to Natural Resources Minister responded by working to develop their own
Vickram Bharrat, Georgetown has reached the capabilities, despite the existence of qualified
conclusion that the country ought to have its companies and the presence of trained person-
own refining capacity rather than remaining nel just a short distance away.
dependent on imported fuels. It makes more All things considered, Trinidad and Tobago’s
“economic sense” for Guyana to build its own proposal for using the Petrotrin refinery to pro-
relatively small-scale oil-processing plant than cess Guyanese crude does not seem likely ever
to seek access to a larger existing facility in to gain much traction. Port of Spain may indeed
neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago, he asserted. have some success in working with Caracas to
“If we have it in-country, then quite honestly, bring Venezuelan gas to the world.
it makes no sense that we refine out of Guyana However, the extent of that success will
because we still have to take it to another coun- depend on the evolution of US sanctions pol-
try, have it refined and then bring back those icy over time – and on the fact that Venezuela
products again, rather than doing it right here. does not have as much freedom to manoeuvre
It makes really good economic sense to do it as Guyana does. ™

Dragon is adjacent to Trinidad and Tobago’s Hibiscus gas field (Image: Mitsubishi)

Week 09 01•March•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P5