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Sanctity of contracts. This is probably an unexpected first line in an article advocating the need to renegotiate contractual arrangements however it is a very relevant consideration. Sanctity of contract refers to the principle that once a party enters into a contract, that party will honour its contractual obligations.
The Paris climate pledges submitted through the system of Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) action plans aim for global decarbonisation. The Trinidad & Tobago pledge includes the concept of a Caribbean Carbon Market (CCM) hosted by the Energy Chamber of Trinidad & Tobago. The market plan has been vetted by Bloomberg New Energy Finance and was showcased at its 2015 summit in New York City.
In addition to the real and perceived negative socio-economic effects of low oil and gas prices and record low production levels, in Trinidad and Tobago (where God is alleged to have been born/naturalised), weak macroeconomic statistics have given rise to public disagreement on whether the economy is in a recession.
Since the announcement in early December by the Governor of the Central Bank that Trinidad and Tobago has experienced its fourth consecutive quarter of negative economic growth, the “R” word is becoming more commonplace in conversations – recession.
The state sector (defined as including any entity that requires taxpayers’ money to meet the cost of its core activities), is not immune to the current harsh realities facing the country. The foreseeable economic climate, should be forcing organisations to critically examine their business model, cost structure and the way they do business.
The 60th anniversary year for the Energy Chamber of Trinidad & Tobago is coinciding with what is likely to be a very challenging year for the global energy sector and the Trinidad & Tobago economy, primarily due to the very low commodity prices.
Two days before Christmas a front-page headline in the Business Express claimed that there had been 2,800 “oil job cuts and counting”. The article, by Aleem Khan, went on to explain that jobs in the oil and gas sector declined from 21,700 at the beginning of 2015 to 18,500 by mid-year – a 15% drop. This sounds extremely alarming and the journalist paints a picture of a crisis in employment brought about by the low price environment. But is this really what the data is telling us?
The introduction of new government players and policy actors into the energy sector usually requires a period of relationship building for the main energy companies.
At the Launch of the 2015 World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report on October 1st , 2015 Minister of Planning, Camille Robinson-Regis, noted Trinidad and Tobago’s ranking at position 89 out of 144 countries, for the second consecutive year.
Crude oil production (i.e. non-condensate production) in Trinidad declined from a peak of 229,527 barrels of oil per day in 1972 to an average of 66,784 barrels of oil per day in 2014. Based on a projection of this historical decline, crude oil production in 2020 and 2030 will be in the order of 50,000 barrels of oil per day and 20,000 barrels of oil per day, respectively.
The Caribbean energy sector is ripe for change – its long-standing dependence on fossil fuels has ensured that citizens pay some of the highest energy rates in the world.
The commodities super-cycle as used here refers to the general pattern in commodity prices in terms of ebbs and flows over time. This cyclical trend in commodity prices has been observed by economists for some time now and certainly since the midnineteenth century.
ON September 30th 2015, the Trinidad and Tobago Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (TTEITI) published its third TTEITI Report covering the period October 1st 2012 – September 30th 2013. This report provides an independent reconciliation of payments made to the government by energy companies with the revenues reported by Government as having been received from these energy companies.
TRINIDAD and Tobago has a long history of oil and gas production and as a result, there are Joint Operating Agreements (‘JOAs’) dating back to the 1990s that are still governing arrangements between parties to production sharing contracts and licences.
EVER since the Trindad and Tobago Election and Boundaries Commission (EBC) released its figures on the number of registered voters prior to the September 2015 general election, I have noticed that lots of people have been questioning the country’s official population figures.
Vincent Pereira outlines his vision for local content at the Energy Chamber's 3rd annual Local Content Forum
One way to gauge organisational impact
Parties’ obligations merit close scrutiny
In this short note, a Hodrick Prescott filter is used to separate the trend and cyclical components of macroeconomic variables, petroleum rents, and transfer and subsidies in the T&T economy
Followed by understanding of local businesses
