[UPDATED] Young: Government to access international funding for oil-spill clean-up

ENERGY Minister Stuart Young says Government may be able to access some degree of funding from the UK-based International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC) to cover some of the costs it and the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) have incurred as a result of oil spill which occurred off Tobago's southeast coast on February 7.

He estimated that the cost incurred so far by central government in dealing with the spill, caused by the barge overturned on a reef, could be between US$14 million to $20 million.

Young made these statements at a news conference at the ministry at Tower C of the Port of Spain International Waterfront Centre on May 6.

After recapping the chronology of events which led to the spill and clean-up efforts and recovery of any remaining cargo from the barge, Young said a frequent question posed to the Government was about the total cost of this exercise.

"What I can say is that the cost that we have estimated at this stage, the central government side and certainly what we have been managing at the ministry of energy, Heritage (Petroleum Ltd) and other service providers that we have retained from central government and the ministry of energy and energy industries, we can be looking at anywhere from US$14 to $20 million. That's our best estimate at this stage."

The THA, Young said, has been incurring certain costs as well in terms of their work in dealing with the oil spill.

He said while the ministry is addressing the extraction of any additional liquid cargo from the barge and the barge's removal from the reef, the THA's focus has been mainly on clean-up efforts along Tobago's coastline.

Young said his ministry and the finance ministry will look at the THA's expenses and see what costs are reasonable for these ministries to deal with.

"The good news is that, fortunately, in 2001, TT signed up for the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 1992."

He said TT also signed on to the International Convention on the establishment of an international fund for compensation for oil pollution damage in the same year.

The IOPC deals with compensation for oil pollution damage in relation to this convention.

"In 2001, we signed on to these bodies, which are basically international bodies that have a formula. If you are importing or exporting over a certain amount of tonnage of fuel a year and it's 150,000 tonnes of fuel-type substance a year, via maritime routes, you join up with these bodies and you have to contribute to these funds."

As a signatory to both of these conventions, he said TT could apply to the IOPC to cover the reasonable cost of an oil spill clean-up.

Monetary contributions were made by TT to the IOPC up to 2018, before the closure of the Petrotrin refinery in November of that year.

Young said, "Since 2018 to now, we continue to fulfil all of our obligations in terms of reporting, on an annual basis, the types of activities taking place in TT."

Approximately two weeks after February 7, he continued, the ministry identified there may be a possibility of accessing funding from the IOPC to cover some of the costs of the oil spill.

"We had filed with them (IOPC) the documentation to say that there may be a possibility of us claiming from this fund."

Young reiterated this confidence was supported by longstanding good relations between the ministry and the IOPC since 2001.

While a high-powered ministerial team was initially appointed to go to London to make a case before the IOPC for funding to cover some of the costs of the oil spill, Young said Cabinet believed the matter was so critical that it decided that he should lead this team.

The team's submissions were sent to the IOPC on April 24.

Young led the team before the IOPC in London on April 29 to argue TT's case for funding to cover some of the costs of the oil spill.

He said, "Interestingly, before that, for the morning period, Tobago featured quite predominantly in the discussions taking place that morning."

Based on the persuasive submissions made before the IOPC, Young continued, the organisation's executive decided that the protocols regarding civil liabilities for oil pollution damage were applicable to the oil spill.

He said the IOPC's director has been immediately authorised to begin to look at payments of compensation in respect of claims arising from the oil spill.

While Young could not guarantee that 100 per cent of the claims would be covered by the IOPC, he was confident that some level of compensation would be provided.

The IOPC, Young continued, will send personnel to Tobago to assess ongoing efforts to deal with the oil spill in respect of any compensation to be provided by it.

He said entities retained by the ministry in the clean-up exercise have been paid by the ministry for the work they have done.

This story was originally published with the title "Young: Over US$14m spent by Government on Tobago oil spill" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

ENERGY Minister Stuart Young says Government may be able to access some degree of funding from the UK-based International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC) to cover some of the costs it and the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) have incurred as a result of an oil spill which occurred off Tobago's southeast coast in February.

Young made this statement at a news conference at the ministry's offices at Tower C of the Port of Spain International Waterfront Centre on May 6.

He said Trinidad and Tobago's ability to access funding from the IOPC is owing to its relationship with the organisation since 2001.

Young led a delegation to the IOPC's office in London to make a case for Trinidad and Tobago to access monies from the IOPC to cover some of the costs for clean up of the oil spill.

He estimated that costs for the clean-up operation so far, from central government's side, could be between US$14 to $20 million.

He also said efforts are ongoing to find the owners of the two vessels involved in this incident.

Young said information from the IOPC and other foreign governments suggest that these people could be part of a movement of rogue vessel owners which breach international maritime law.