Successful plant maintenance turnarounds in the downstream petrochemical and heavy industrial sector are key to the successful longterm operation of facilities. These turnarounds (or TARs as they are commonly called in the industry) are also key business opportunities for the myriad of service companies and contractors who support the industry. TARs are also important for the thousands of contract workers who pick up temporary employment during these periods, often working long hours and accumulating significant overtime income.
Ammonia prices have rebounded. This rebound comes after a low in August when it dipped below 150 US$/tonne. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the price continued the upward trend at the end of the year due to lower supplies in the Black Sea where portions of ammonia were diverted to produce urea.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister, Dr. the Honourable Keith Rowley, delivered an address to the nation. While the address touched on several economic issues facing the country, there was specific mention of the future of the energy sector and in particular, the role that the state oil company, Petrotrin, plays in the economy. Dr. Rowley stated, ‘Petrotrin has contributed significantly to the growth and development of Trinidad and Tobago but is now in need of fundamental restructuring, which cannot be put off any longer’.
Listening to Energy Minister Franklin Khan’s speech at the opening ceremony of Monday’s Energy Conference 2018 proved to be quite the mind-bending experience. On one hand, it seemed as if the minister was issuing plaudits to the sector, while with the other, he seemed to be taking it away.
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the Trinidad & Tobago Energy Conference 2018, and especially to welcome all of our regional and international visitors. Over the past thirty years this conference has grown to become the premier event in the regional energy sector calendar. It is the one time when the whole industry comes together to discuss the challenges and the opportunities for the sector.
Despite the fact that upstream activity is set to increase in 2018, most service companies operating in Trinidad and Tobago report that they are still not confident about their business prospects and future growth. The Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago’s (Energy Chamber) quarterly survey of energy service companies shows that over 60 per cent of companies report that both the volume and value of their business was below normal levels with around half of the companies surveyed reporting that they reduced staffing levels in the fourth quarter of 2017.
The Energy Chamber has commissioned an independent study to better understand the current value of the energy sector to economy of Trinidad & Tobago, as well as to determine where opportunities exist to increase the value in the future. The Energy Chamber has contracted the respected Washington D.C.-based consulting group, DAI Sustainable Business Group (SBG), to undertake this study and quantify the contribution of the energy sector.
Low hanging fruit’ is a term that is frequently used in the discussion around energy efficiency. In its simplest form, it means that the cheapest way to save money on energy is to use less energy. However, using less energy can sometimes be equated with producing less; this is not what we mean by using less energy — what we really mean is doing the same activities and maintaining the same production while using less energy, thereby becoming more efficient.
The recent “fake oil” allegations at Petrotrin has helped propel public discussion on how efficiently the country monitors its oil and gas production. For better or worse, the issue has generated not only salacious stories in the press but actual interest in the existing checks and balances to monitor production. It is clear that the ramifications of lax monitoring can be crippling. In fact, there are billion dollar ramifications if the country does not correctly quantify its energy production, particularly in this current environment of low global oil and gas prices and declining national production.
Based on some of the comments on social media and some of the ‘talk-radio’ shows, I seem to have upset a lot of people in Trinidad and Tobago by calling for a policy of removing subsidies on electricity.
If Trinidad and Tobago is going to continue to attract the massive amounts of direct foreign investment it requires to maintain its world-class natural gas industry, the country needs to ensure that there is clarity on both short and long-term energy policy. To attract investment, the country needs to reduce uncertainty and help investors mitigate risk.
Joel M.C. Pemberton, Chief Executive Officer of DeNovo Energy Limited, signed the Safe TO Work (STOW) Charter on October 24th, 2017 agreeing to use STOW to screen contractors’ health, safety and environmental (HSE) management systems.
Well-deserved and hearty congratulations are extended to Process Components Limited (Procom) and Massy Technologies Applied Imaging (Trinidad) Ltd. who each got a perfect score of 100 per cent in each Safe TO Work (STOW) element at their 2017 recertification audits. STOW is a certification programme for contractors’ health, safety and environmental (HSE) management systems (MS) which involves contractors implementing the locally developed STOW HSE requirements and undergoing an independent audit to verify compliance to the requirements.
Recent news suggests that the island of Grenada may now become the newest hydrocarbon-producing nation in the Caribbean region. A wildcat exploration well, called Nutmeg 2, was spudded by Global Petroleum Group (GPG), a little-known Russian company in late June. The well, located in about 400 feet of water near to Grenada’s maritime boundary with Venezuela, was drilled using the Transoceanowned semi-submersible Development Driller III.
While the country continues to struggle to meet its renewable energy targets by 2021, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has made a first step in the direction of diversifying its energy mix for electricity away from 100 per cent natural gas-fired power plants. Earlier in September, the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries issued a request for the submission of expressions of interest (EOI) for a waste-to-energy (WtE) facility at the Beetham Landfill site.
One of the arguments used by proponents of fossil fuel subsidies in Trinidad and Tobago is that the gasoline or diesel that they put into their tanks is produced in the country and, therefore, belongs to them and should be provided to them at a low price. In reality, on average, more than half of the hydrocarbon molecules going into any gasoline or diesel tank will actually have been produced in another country and imported to Trinidad and Tobago to be refined at the Point-a-Pierre refinery. The hydrocarbon molecules going into your tank could be from Trinidad and Tobago, but they also could be from Russia, Gabon, Brazil or Colombia.
Shell’s activity in Trinidad and Tobago is set to accelerate over the next few years, with two rigs due to be simultaneously in operations for the first time in the recent history of the asset (which was brought into the Shell Trinidad & Tobago Limited portfolio through their purchase of BG Group). The recent acquisition by Shell Trinidad & Tobago Limited of Chevron’s interests in Trinidad and Tobago has allowed them to make investment decisions on new activity off Trinidad’s east coast without having to seek the agreement of a partner. This has been important in unlocking the new investment in upstream gas production.
Over 96 per cent of service companies reported that they were affected by late payments and that they had receivables in excess of 60 days, according to a survey of contractors and service companies conducted by the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago. In addition, 58 per cent of respondents said that the impact on their companies was very significant.
With new gas coming on stream from bpTT’s Juniper project and the full implementation of the Trinidad onshore compression (TROC) project, national gas production in Trinidad & Tobago appears to be at last turning the corner and showing signs of growth.
50 percent of energy services companies polled by the Energy Chamber indicated that the value of their business was down in the second quarter of 2017. 77 percent of the respondents indicated that this was due to decrease in demand for services.
