NGC excited over 'historic' gas deal with Venezuela

The National Gas Company of TT (NGC) has expressed excitement at the continuation of efforts to export natural gas from Venezuela to Trinidad and Tobago.

Acting president of NGC Verlier Quan-Vie said in a press release on July 26, "NGC welcomes this development.

"We are excited to work collaboratively with all the parties to progress this and other opportunities for the benefit of the citizens of TT."

This comes as Minister of Energy Stuart Young announced the licence granted to TT by Venezuela for the exploration and production of natural gas from Cocuina, part of the Manakin-Cocuina field, as "historic" on July 25, on his social media pages.

A Newsday report on July 25 said Young had just returned from Venezuela after signing a number of agreements which will see NGC and bpTT jointly operating the field.

"This achievement is unprecedented and has never been done in TT and Venezuela before for a cross-border hydrocarbon field," Young said. "It is another significant achievement for the people of TT and Venezuela."

The news broke on July 24, as the Energy Chamber's Energy Now publication revealed NGC and bpTT would have a 20-year licence to operate the Venezuelan side of the field.

At a post-Cabinet press conference at the Diplomatic Centre in Port of Spain on July 25, the Prime Minister said because of revenue garnered from TT's natural gas industries, the nation enjoys significant privileges that, should this revenue be reduced, TT would not be able to access.

"Just look to see where the Government spends money and that would be at risk in the event that the income is not there," he said.

He added that, when government looked at natural-gas reserves, it found the country had ten-12 years' proven resources. The mature reserves prompted the government to seek natural-gas resources from outside TT's borders. The closest neighbour with gas reserves is Venezuela.

Dr Rowley said despite political turmoil, TT had spent the past 15 years developing relations with Venezuela which culminated in the award of the licence.

He said Venezuela was not the only country with which the Government had sought deals, and memoranda of understanding had been signed with Grenada, Guyana and Suriname.

"Eventually we may be in a position to access gas outside of Venezuela, and having set the template with Loran/Manatee and now Cocuina/Manakin, we may be able to access other sources in eastern Venezuela, which are to be properly explored."

Quan-Vie said, "We wish to thank the teams at MEEI, MPPP, bp and the NGC teams for their unwavering commitment and dedication as we pursued this milestone. We are excited to work collaboratively with all the parties to progress this and other opportunities for the benefit of the citizens of TT.”