Page 5 - LatAmOil Week 45 2021

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil

Keith Rowley, the prime minister of Trinidad countries should not bear the burden of the
and Tobago, said on November 6 following his energy transition, especially since their own
return from the COP26 summit that he did not contributions to global GHG emissions were
believe Port of Spain should comply with calls to very modest. “The world’s foremost polluters
rein in hydrocarbon exploration. have a duty to institute steeper emissions cuts,”
Doing so would wreak havoc on the coun- he asserted.
try’s economy, which depends heavily on gas Presidents Ali and Santokhi drew attention
production, gas processing, gas-derived petro- to their countries’ extensive forests, pointing out
chemical manufacturing and related activities, that Guyana and Suriname were in a position
he noted. to support emissions reduction campaigns by
“For Trinidad and Tobago, that is a dagger using their trees as a massive carbon sink. They
aimed at our heart,” he was quoted as saying by both urged the developed world to back pro-
Argus Media. posals for paying poorer countries to maintain
He also indicated that the country intended such carbon sinks, with Santokhi adding that
to keep looking for oil and gas and extracting Suriname and other heavily forested countries
commercially viable reserves. “We are in the ought to be offered “appropriate compensation
business of hydrocarbons and will remain there means and mechanisms” to help them cover the
as long as there is a market in the world,” he steep costs of the energy transition.
remarked. Both leaders also made a point of saying that
Rowley also took exception to the argument they were committed to cutting GHG emissions
that only renewable energy projects deserved and expanding the use of renewable energy. But
political and financial support, pointing out that neither seemed keen on the idea of giving up on
gas had a smaller carbon footprint than other fossil fuel production.
fossil fuels, such as coal or petroleum products. Indeed, Ali’s second-in-command said on
Trinidad’s best bet is “to join other countries November 2 that Guyana should not be denied
and carry the conversation that gas is in fact the the opportunity to exploit its own resources
cleaner among the fuels available at this time,” he – especially since the International Energy
said, according to Argus Media. Agency (IEA), which has called for cutting off
The prime minister stressed that Port of all financing for fossil fuel projects, expects that
Spain was not insensible to climate consider- the world will still need 24mn barrels per day There is still room
ations. He acknowledged that Trinidad and (bpd) of oil at minimum in 2050.
Tobago had become one of the world’s biggest “So who is going to supply this?” Vice Presi- for debate about
polluters specifically because of its dependence dent Bharrat Jagdeo asked. “Why should we not
on the production of gas-derived petrochemi- be the ones supplying it?” how exactly the
cals and fertilisers. “We have our work cut out Jagdeo also stressed the idea of a fair energy global community
for us,” he said. transition, saying: “If we don’t develop our
Additionally, he said he had taken pains to resources, like some of our people [are] saying, is supposed
inform other attendees of COP26 that the gov- then you [are] giving a monopoly only to the
ernment of Trinidad and Tobago was committed existing producers. How do you want a fair deal to implement
to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. for Guyana when you want us to park our oil and
Even so, he argued, replacing fossil fuels will gas sector?” decarbonisation
take “quite some time.” Port of Spain intends to He also argued that his country would be in
keep backing oil and gas projects in the interim a better position to bear the financial burden of
and stands ready to sign new agreements with the switch to renewable energy if it first earned
international oil companies (IOCs) such as BP as much as possible from oil development. “Our
(UK) and Royal Dutch Shell (UK/Netherlands), objective has to be to try to get as much out as
he said. possible from the sector, as quickly as possible,
“We have had very good responses from Shell and then invest in the low-carbon sector of the
and BP, and significant investments are commit- future,” he declared.
ted to keeping Trinidad and Tobago on the pro-
duction side of things,” he stated. Room for debate
All these statements are significant because they
Guyana and Suriname push back demonstrate that there is still room for debate
Meanwhile, two South American states have about how exactly the global community is sup-
pushed back against the idea of making any posed to implement decarbonisation.
commitments to halt oil and gas exploration. They show that not all countries are
One of these was Suriname, whose President convinced of the wisdom of giving up on fossil
Chandrikapersad Santokhi said on November fuels – even in the face of strong evidence that
2 that developed countries’ efforts to convince climate change is both real and harmful. Addi-
poorer states to give up on fossil fuels were hyp- tionally, they indicate that poorer countries with
ocritical. He expressed reservations about the oil and gas reserves have real questions about the
fairness of denying less developed and ener- wisdom of emissions cuts that are likely to con-
gy-poor countries the chance to reap the bene- strain their income by forcing oil and gas to stay
fits of fossil fuel development, saying that richer underground.
states were applying “double standards.” In other words, it’s too early to declare vic-
Santokhi’s Guyanese counterpart Irfaan tory for BOGA. Costa Rica may be ready to give
Ali spoke similarly, saying that impoverished up on hydrocarbons, but other countries in the

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