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T&T energy minister criticises report on

ability to gain market share in Europe

INVESTMENT TRINIDAD and Tobago’s Minister of Energy ensure sustainability of not only LNG but of our
and Energy Industries Stuart Young has criti- petchem sector, and we do think outside the box.”
cised Reuters for a recent report suggesting that Young’s statements drew a sharp response from
Peru is better positioned to capture LNG market David Lee, a member of Trinidad and Tobago’s
share in Europe, which is seeking new natural Parliament from the opposition UNC party.
gas suppliers in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Lee said in a statement on June 1 that the Reu-
Ukraine. ters report vindicated the UNC’s assertions that
Speaking at an industry conference in Port of the current government, led by Prime Minister
Spain on June 1, Young faulted the news agency Keith Rowley, was misleading the public about
for attempting to compare Peru with Trinidad the poor state of the national oil and gas sector.
and Tobago on this front. The two countries may The MP has spoken similarly in recent weeks.
be the only large-scale producers of LNG in the For example, he told CNN in an interview last
broader Latin American region, but their LNG month that he believed Trinidad and Tobago’s
production facilities have more differences than energy industry had become so decrepit that it
similarities, he asserted. could not reap any benefits from the increase in
“Another Reuters article, attempting rather crude oil and fuel prices since late February.
mischievously and without the correct informa- The island state is home to Atlantic LNG, a
tion to compare LNG production in Peru, off a four-train gas liquefaction plant and export ter-
one-train facility, with what we are doing here minal in Point Fortin. The facility is not owned
in TT utilising three of our four trains,” he com- by a single company or a consortium but has four
mented. “I will use this opportunity just to put on different sets of owners, or one set for each of its
record that there is a lot of fallacy in that. It is not four production trains. Train 1 is owned 46% by
based on a proper fact comparison. Our LNG Shell (UK), 34% by BP (UK), 10% by National
exports, even with a reduced natural gas output, Gas Co. of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd (NGC) and
[are] double, more than double with what is tak- 10% by China Investment Corp. (CIC). Mean-
ing place out of Peru.” while, Trains 2 and 3 are owned 57.5% by Shell
He also took exception to Reuters’ prediction and 42.5% by BP, while Train 4 is owned 51.11%
that Atlantic LNG, the four-train gas liquefac- by Shell, 37.78% by BP, and 11.11% by NGC.
tion plant in Point Fortin, was likely to see out- Atlantic LNG’s output has been on the decline
put levels sink for the third year in a row in 2022. since 2018, and its shareholders have been in
The data available to the ministry indicate that talks for several years, owing to concerns about
the facility is on track to see yields rise this year, falling production. Their concerns began grow-
he said. He did not offer any specific numbers, ing more acute in 2019, after BP announced that
saying only that Port of Spain hoped to provide it could not maintain gas supplies to the plant at
figures to back up its statements “in the not-too- the level of 500 mcf (14.16mn cubic metres) per
distant future.” day because its infill drilling project was having
He continued: “The lesson is: This is our disappointing results. Since then, Atlantic LNG’s
TT, and don’t always believe what you hear output has declined even more, and its first pro-
the naysayers say as they attack us here in TT. duction train has suspended operations for want
I can assure you the government is working of feedstock.™
overtime, through me leading the ministry to

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