Lee calls for clarity on cross-border gas fields

Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee called on government to come clean on all cross-border oil and gas deals.

Speaking during the debate on the budget on Friday, Lee called for an update on the Dragon, Manakin–Cocuina and Loran–Manatee gas fields.

“Up to now, the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries cannot say when gas is coming to TT from any of those projects. I heard a survey vessel is going into the Dragon gas field, which 100 per cent belongs to the Venezuelan government.

“The minister did not give an update on the Manakin-Cocuina and Loran-Manatee gas fields, which fall in our waters. We are saying today to come clean on all the cross-border deals which are taking place with the Venezuelan government. When they supposedly start to do Manakin, what is the deal they have with the Venezuelan government for gas that could flow from Cocuina? Also the Loren field does not have a wall separating it from the Manatee field. So these cross-border deals and contracts are highly geo-political, but they are trying to make it seem like it’s very easy.”

On December 20, 2023, the Energy and Energy Industries Ministry, NGC Exploration and Production Ltd (NGC), Shell Venezuela S.A. (Shell) and Venezuela’s Ministro del Poder Popular de Petróleo (MPPP) signed the Dragon Field exploration and production license for a period of 30 years.

The Loran-Manatee field was discovered in 1983 and began production in 2013. In 2024, Shell announced the Manatee section, the TT portion of the field, would begin production in 2027.

The Cocuina field was discovered in 1983, with the discovery of Manakin following in 2000. In 2015, the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela signed a unitization agreement for the joint exploitation and development of hydrocarbon reservoirs of the fields.

Lee said the government has drilled less wells than when the UNC was in power, had less crude oil, ammonia and LNG production, and the energy GDP had contracted by 5.6 per cent since last year.

He questioned the terms under which the Atlantic LNG restructuring referenced by the Finance Minister on Monday took place. He quoted from a media release by the National Gas Company on December 5, 2023, which spoke about the restructuring.

“It said the restructure positions TT to profit more from the LNG business as NGC will have increased equity in the facility. The company’s stake in the unitised facility will be 5.74 per cent from 2024-2027 and ten percent from 2027 onwards.”

“So in reality,” Lee continued, “this restructuring really does not come into play until 2027 when the ten per cent is spread out throughout the company called Atlantic LNG. The impression we got from the Finance Minister’s presentation is that money would have been flooding in from Tuesday and that is not so.”

Lee said he had previously asked what the restructuring had cost the country and the Finance Minister had said nothing.

“Energy companies just don’t give up a stake in something just so. What really did government give up for that restructuring? Was it that claims that Shell had against this country that they agreed to settle without saying they are liable in exchange for this restructuring? I always said energy companies are not going to give up something for nothing. They’re not, they have an infrastructure, they have a vested interest.

“Was it that with the government, because they need to get gas for Atlantic LNG and either the government or the Energy Minister were so in bed with the Venezuelan government that there was some deal that was taking place that the Shell and the energy companies felt that they were going to benefit by that restructuring.”

Lee asked if the new Mittal plant was promised gas and what the terms and conditions of the promise were. The TT Iron Steel Company (TTIS) agreed to buy the plant in 2023 and restart it within a year.

Lee said measures promised in previous budgets had not materialized, including access to foreign exchange, diversification into the shipping industry, the Shark Tank Grant, a live music district, the San Fernando waterfront project and a yachting industry marina.