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The Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago warmly welcomes the statements made by the Honourable Roodal Moonilal to address the ease of doing business in the energy sector.  Increasing the pace of approvals is one of the six key points identified by the Energy Chamber to increase oil and natural gas production.  Improving the ease of doing business within the sector will have substantial net benefits to project execution and shorter timelines to first oil or gas and significantly improves project economics.

The Honourable Minister also mentioned that the Ministry is aware of the concerns of the small land-based oil companies and some of their offshore counterparts, about the fiscal regime’s competitiveness and this is something they are prepared to address with careful consideration.  Fiscal reform is the second point in the Energy Chamber’s six point plan and the Energy Chamber welcomes the Minister’s commitment to work with the industry to address this issue. 

The Minister of Energy cited a study commissioned by the Energy Chamber in 2020.  This study showed that a 1-year improvement in the time from a bid round to first gas, would result in an increase in the net present value (npv) of a typical shallow water offshore gas field in T&T by approx. USD 120million.  Faster approvals would result in additional value from our resources for both the government and operators.

In addition to the approvals process there are other ease of doing business improvements that can help to improve the competitiveness of the energy sector.  These changes are also important if we wish to meet the objective of being a regional energy services hub. 

Increasing the production of both oil and gas is critical for stabilization of the economy and the generation of foreign exchange.   It is also critical for the growth of opportunities for local contractors and employment in the sector.

The Energy Chamber is fully committed to work closely with the Ministry of Energy and other Ministries and agencies to address these issues.