Page 5 - LatAmOil Week 41 2019

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil
 “ExxonMobil made 15 discoveries in 2015. They have found 6bn barrels of recoverable oil so far, and they have explored about 20% of the [potential hydrocarbon-bearing sites in the off- shore zone].”
Transparency
He also declared that Guyana was working harder than Trinidad and Tobago to ensure transparency in the oil and gas sector, especially with respect to the biggest outside investors. In the long run, he said, this approach is likely to benefit local companies, especially firms that provide various types of support services for oil and gas projects.
“It is extremely difficult in T&T to find out what the big operators are doing,” he said. “It is a big secret to find out who is doing what, who is doing what where and what are the develop- mental plans of these companies. In Guyana, every day two or three stories come out, and operators are publishing exactly what happens. They keep the public in the loop. [Smaller] com- panies, therefore, [can] see the opportunities coming up, and they can position themselves to be a part of the [oil and gas] sector.”
Promoting transparency may not be easy, he added, since companies working in Trinidad and Tobago have become accustomed to oper- ating in a relatively opaque environment and “don’t see [disclosure] as a necessity.” He added: “It stems from a lack of interest from the gov- ernment and the companies. It is simple for a minister to say: ‘Please publish the information so the country will know what is going on.’ The secrecy impacts [downstream and service com- panies, which] depend on the gas coming from upstream.”
Special incentives
Razack’s remarks did not focus exclusively on the differences between his own country and Guyana.
Closer to home, he said, Trinidad and Tobago ought to take a closer look at mature oil and gas fields when drawing up budget legislation. The best way to encourage the development of such assets is to offer incentives to small and medi- um-sized operators, he said.
“You must look at the technical and eco- nomic assets together and design an economic framework that actually targets each of the operators,” he commented. “The budget barely has anything to incentivise the new drilling or explorations. You have to break up the fields [into categories], rather than looking at [them] as one energy sector.”
Tullow’s plans
The geophysicist’s warning looks prescient in light of recent moves by Tullow (UK-Ireland), another company that has discovered large reserves of oil offshore Guyana.
George Cazenove, Tullow’s head of commu- nications, said last week that his company was “very enthusiastic” about its successes in the region. He told Demerara Waves Online in an interview that Tullow intended to drill addi- tional wells next year to assess the quality of the oil it has found.
But before it begins drilling, Cazenove said, Tullow will set up an onshore base in Guyana to support its work in the offshore zone. This repre- sents a shift, given that Tullow used an onshore facility in Trinidad and Tobago to support oper- ations during the drilling of its two most recent wells. ™
He “
MEXICO
Head of Mexican oil workers’ union steps down amidst close scrutiny
said companies working in
Trinidad and Tobago had become accustomed to operating in a relatively opaque environment
THE head of Mexico’s influential oil workers’ union, known by its Spanish acronym SPTRM, stepped down on October 16 amidst allegations of corruption.
Carlos Romero Deschamps left office on October 16, one day after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador confirmed that an investigation of the charges was underway. “Complaints have been presented to the attor- ney general’s office,” the president said at one of his regular press conferences in Mexico City. “If he decides to leave the union so that he can attend to these issues, that’s his right. But we will not get involved.”
Lopez Obrador did not divulge details of the allegations. The president has often inveighed against graft and fraud in the public sector.
Romero Deschamps, a former senator who
has headed SPTRM since 1993, has long been suspected of corruption, and Mexican press sources have reportedly extensively about the opulent lifestyle that he and his family members enjoy. Nevertheless, he has repeatedly denied all accusations to that effect.
Even so, he has been under considerable pressure. Sources in Mexico City told Reuters earlier this year that the attorney general’s office had launched a probe into the activities of the union boss and several of his relatives. They said that the inquiry was focusing on charges of graft and money laundering.
The sources’ statements were never officially confirmed, but Reuters reported on October 16 that Romero Deschamps was facing two crim- inal charges related to “[financial] operations with funds of illegal origin.”
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Week 40 10•October•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
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