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The oil and gas industry in the United States has come out strongly against the steel and aluminum import tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump. On Thursday 8th March, President Trump signed into effect tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum, a measure that was a campaign promise geared towards helping waning U.S. industries.
During the Trinidad and Tobago Energy Conference in January, BPTT announced that they would take a delegation of Trinidad and Tobago stakeholders to Altamira, Mexico where the Angelin platform is being fabricated. The delegation, including Senator the Honourable Franklin Khan, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, visited the fabrication yard later that month.
The Prime Minister of Grenada, Dr. the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, has confirmed a commercial hydrocarbon find offshore Grenada, the day before national elections are carded.
Recently released figures from the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries have confirmed that average gas production in 2017 was up slightly from the previous year. While the year-on-year increase in total production was just 1 per cent, it represents the first year-on-year increase in average production since 2013.
I was impressed by the obvious passion and commitment from many different Guyanese stakeholders at the recently concluded GIPEX Conference in Georgetown. There is a clear, strong desire to get the development of the oil industry right and for the country not to squander the opportunities presented by the truly amazing exploration success enjoyed by Exxon and their partners. There was a lot of spirited discussion on policy and governance of the oil industry, including local content, revenue transparency, contract transparency, sovereign wealth funds and regulatory independence.
Over the past month, Petrotrin has been experiencing some significant restructuring and several of the top tier of management were asked to resign following the resignation of its president. While Petrotrin continues to suffer with financial constraints and struggles to find its footing in a new landscape, other state-run oil companies around the world have been seeing success. Colombian oil company, Ecopetrol, is one such company.
The Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago has commissioned a major study into the value added by the energy sector to the local economy. The preliminary results of the study were presented at the annual Trinidad and Tobago Energy Conference in January 2018 and showed that the sector adds significant value to the economy above and beyond direct taxation. Note, this does not mean we should ignore the value of tax return. Using 2016 as the base year, the study showed that the energy sector added four and a half times more overall value to the economy than if you only considered taxes paid to the government.
With the first floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) for the Liza Phase 1 project under construction in Singapore, Exxon and its partners are not only far advanced in the approval process for a larger second FPSO for Liza Phase 2, but also actively considering a third FPSO for Guyana.
Exploration in the Caribbean continues to pick up. This week it was announced that Repsol has awarded the drilling contractor Seadrill, for an ultra-deepwater drillship to be used offshore Aruba.
In any renegotiations, the Government must be mindful of our well-deserved reputation as a jurisdiction that fully respects commercial contracts. We must ensure that this reputation is preserved or even strengthened in this process.
The Prime Minister of Grenada, Dr Keith Mitchell has confirmed a commercial hydrocarbon find offshore Grenada, the day before national elections are carded.
McDermott International announced via press release that it has been awarded a detailed engineering and long lead procurement services contract from BP Trinidad & Tobago, LLC (bpTT) for the Cassia C Compression Platform, located 40 miles (65 kilometers) off the southeast coast of Trinidad and Tobago.
As a communications professional working in the local environment, I have had the opportunity to see some of our major businesses, in both the energy and non-energy sectors, respond to issues that adversely impact their business agenda or reputation. Usually, this call is a reactive one, following a crisis, but increasingly there are requests to help build or refresh the communications skills of the company's leadership for engaging with specific audiences (such as the media).
It has been three years since The Public Procurement and Disposal of Property Act No. 1 of 2015 was assented to, and July 31, 2018 would make it three years since its partial proclamation. An act intended to, among other things, repeal the Central Tenders Board Act and establish an Office of Procurement Regulation.
Clean energy is a winning issue and Trinidad and Tobago should claim and own it. The wider Caribbean has always had hurricanes due to its geographical bearing, but storm intensity has increased in recent decades due to climate change. Climate change science has clarified the problem with fossil fuel emissions, it has educated people whose lives are being adversely impacted by fossil fuels, and will lead to sustained investment for Caribbean economies, if weaponised.
Despite an uptake in activity in 2018 with new drilling programmes coming on stream, local companies are not feeling optimistic about their business prospects. Service companies are also feeling a downward pressure on their margins from the operators despite an increase in commodity prices. This might be leading to the low levels of optimism still felt by service companies.
In 2017, Trinidad and Tobago saw its first electric vehicle on the road. It was actually an electric bus which was made possible through a partnership with the University of Trinidad and Tobago, the European Union and the Ministry of Planning (formerly the Ministry of Environment). Recently, other electric vehicles have been launched.
Industry collaboration has become an important focus for companies in the energy sector as they adjust to the lower price environment of the past few years. Companies have recognised that while they will compete in many areas of their business, there are also many areas where they can collaborate in order to maximise the value of their business. This can include collaboration between operators, between service companies and operators (or with each other), between academia and the industry, or collaboration between state agencies and the industry. There are also opportunities for collaboration across international borders to find mutually beneficial solutions.
According to a press release by Range Resources (Range), they are very pleased with the production results from the latest well which, according to the company, is one of the best producing wells drilled by Range in recent years in Trinidad.
The Government of Guyana has made public the production sharing contract between the Government of Guyana and ExxonMobil affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited. The release of the agreement came on the heels of several sections of the business community in Guyana calling for it.
