Trinidad and Tobago will seek to capitalise on energy projects in the region as part of broader push outside of the country's borders, and especially into Guyana, which has recently announced a significant offshore oil discovery.
Oil field service companies from Trinidad and Tobago are already dominant players in Suriname and will be interested in conducting work in Guyana, said Trinidad and Tobago Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine during an interview June 13 in Port-of-Spain.
“There is a role, therefore, for us to have our energy service companies enter the Guyanese frontier energy economy, and this is something we support.”
Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd., an affiliate of Irving, Texas-based ExxonMobil, announced in late May that the Liza-1 well it had drilled offshore Guyana in the Stabroek block had discovered more than 295 feet of oil pay.
Since the announcement, already-tense relations between the governments of Venezuela and Guyana flared up after the former redrew its maritime border to include the Stabroek discovery.
Earlier this year, Trinidad's prime minister announced that the country would be be working with the IADB to form an Energy Fund that would help stakeholders to capitalise on energy projects in the region, and specifically those related to power and regasification, among other sectors.
“So that is going to be a major policy imperative for the next five years,” said Ramnarine.
Trinidad and Tobago, home to Atlantic LNG, the first LNG export facility in Latin America, is looking to expand its service and experience into the region.