Moonilal to visit US for energy talks

Minister of Energy Dr Roodal Moonilal has announced that he, along with a small delegation, will embark on a trip to Washington DC, to engage with the US government officials and officials from private companies to hold talks on energy security.

Moonilal, at a post-cabinet meeting at the Red House on May 22, said he would be taking the trip from May 28-May 30, where he will have discussions with officials of the US department of energy, the department of the secretary of state and the treasury department to discuss TT’s future collaboration with the US in the area of energy security and to focus on strengthening ties between both countries.

He said he will also engage with officials from Shell Global, the Americans Council and the Inter-American Dialogue.

“We will meet with senior officials of those organisations to discuss with them our mutually beneficial interests in the area of (energy) security,” he said.

“This comes at a critical time since we have inherited an energy sector in significant decline both in the production of gas and oil and with consequences in the petrochemical sector.”

In March US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed the US’ commitment to doing what it could to help TT ensure its energy security, despite concerns over Venezuela. The commitment came a day before then acting Prime Minister Stuart Young met with Rubio in Jamiaca for bilateral discussions.

At the time the TT government, the private sector and the Venezuelan government were engaged in talks on the Dragon gas deal, to aggregate natural gas from Venezuelan waters. TT had licences from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to engage in exploration and exploitation of natural gas resources from the Dragon gas field and the Manakin/Cocuina cross-border field.

But in April the US Government said it would no longer support the region’s dependence on oil and gas from Venezuela. Young, on April 8, announced that the US government revoked the OFAC licences for both fields.

Talks begin between Guyana, TT on gas

Moonilal said the Energy Ministry reached out to several Caricom countries including Guyana for discussions on energy security and the Guyanese government agreed to partner and collaborate with TT “in a very meaningful way” on energy matters.

He said one of the first things that was raised was a working group that allowed for collaboration on energy matters between TT and Guyana. He expressed plans to revive the project, along with plans to visit Guyana to engage in further energy talks.

“It was established several years ago and allowed to collapse. It may not be called by the same name but it will involve working together in real time on significant partnerships with Guyana.”

He expressed concerns over the relationship the TT Government had with Guyana, saying that the TT government did not have a footprint in the country.

“What happened is that the private sector of their own volition by virtue of their own networking skills got involved in those sectors. So the Government never had a footprint in these areas and that is what we are working on.”

He said in one project, the National Energy Corporation had a good chance to win a contract to establish gas infrastructure onshore but the PNM-led government instructed the company to withdraw.

“Today I can say that another company, Phoenix Park Gas is in another bid for work and to establish a presence there which will help TT in so many ways and we have indicated that they should pursue that and get a footprint in Guyana and other places so that we could again become a significant player in energy in TT.”

On May 14 Guyanese Vice-President Bharat Jagdeo said Guyana already had plans for its gas for power generation and a fertiliser plant.

He added that Guyana was looking at other options such as the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for export, supplying electricity to Brazil and developing domestic industries. He said exporting gas to TT would only be considered if it proved to be feasible or lucrative for Guyana.

On May 22 Moonilal said he planned to discuss with Guyanese officials concerns and challenges it was having, and where TT could help.