PM, Young talk ALNG, new projects with BP in UK

THE Prime Minister and Energy Minister Stuart Young held discussions with British Petroleum (BP) executives in London on Thursday on several issues of mutual interest

A statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) said Dr Rowley and Young met with a BP team, led by its CEO Bernard Looney, at BP's headquarters at St James Square, London.

BP gave Rowley and Young an update on its plans for future gas production, including the sanctioning of new projects.

The OPM said, "The discussions also touched on the progress of the Atlantic LNG (ALNG) restructuring negotiations which is expected to be finalised soon."

On January 25, Government and ALNG's shareholders reached a heads of agreement (HoA) that will guide the company's restructuring.

In a statement on that day, the Energy Ministry said the HoA is being executed by Government, BP, Shell TT Ltd and the National Gas Company (NGC). BP and Shell also welcomed the HoA in separate statements.

At that time, sources told Newsday the objective of the HoA is to restructure ALNG so its shareholders would own certain percentages in the new entity, as opposed to having ownership in its four trains. In the current arrangement, Government, through NGC, only has shares in trains One and Four.

While the HoA may not immediately address issues concerning Train One, which is currently shut down, sources said a restructured ALNG could allow Government, through the NGC, to access a portion of the revenues from trains in which it currently has no shares.

Train One has been shut down since November 2020.

The OPM added, "Both parties reiterated their commitment to working together to ensure the future of TT’s energy sector."

During the meeting, Rowley suggested to BP executives that "future fabrication of platforms and other infrastructure should be done in TT."

Looney reiterated that TT remains an important asset in BP’s global operations.

He said the the BP team would continue working assiduously with the Government on delivering a number of initiatives that would benefit both Triidad and Tobago and BP.

Rowley and Young will meet with executives of Shell at The Hague, Netherlands on Friday.

They left TT on September 2 for meetings in Switzerland, the UK and the Netherlands for meetings with Proman, BP and Shell respectively.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert is acting as prime minister until Rowley returns.