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December 2020 marks for me just short of eight years of membership on the Multi-stakeholder Group (MSG) Steering Committee (SC) of the Trinidad and Tobago Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (TTEITI) as the representative for the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce (TTCIC). It also signals the end of my journey in this capacity as I move on from the committee in 2021, to pursue other personal and professional goals.
Local content has emerged as a key priority for many resource-rich developing countries, including Trinidad and Tobago. Its role in deepening and widening linkages and sustainably boosting value between the energy sector and other productive sectors of the Trinidad and Tobago economy has been a topic of continuing discussion.
When I moved to Trinidad and Tobago two years ago, I needed to buy a car. I’ve always lived in different countries across Europe and never had to drive, but in Trinidad, for first time in my life, I had to reconsider. Even though I’ve had a valid drivers’ licence since I was 18 years old, I have never had to use it as I could take a bike, walk or travel by public transportation. Now I find myself having to reconsider how I move around and the dramatic impact this change would have on my personal life.
Innovation can be defined as the invention or changing of some idea, product or method. However, Peter Senge asserts that it is only when invention can be replicated reliably on a meaningful scale and at a practical cost can it be considered an innovation. As such, innovation flows from invention where utility, feasibility, entrepreneurship and leadership converge. At a national level, innovation involves the entire ecosystem with drivers being culture, institutions and government policy. These drivers impact each other systemically at the industry, business and individual levels which determine national competitiveness. This article examines these drivers locally in the context of the National Development Strategy (NDS) Vision 2030, along with further suggestions for improving innovation.
Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC), has indicated that it is on track to spud the Perseverance #1 well in December 2020.
In 2020, Suriname has had significant oil discoveries by Apache and its partners in the deepwaters offshore. The three major finds this year put Suriname as the location for the 2nd largest discoveries in 2020 - second only to Russia.
Exxon intends to produce crude from its deepwater finds offshore Guyana onto floating production storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs). According to the US oil major, the company has had 18 discoveries thus far and has the potential to use five FPSOs when the fields are brought on stream.
Despite concerns that Covid-19 could drive down discovered volumes to their lowest levels in decades, exploration activity has been resilient this year. Found resources already exceed 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and are projected to settle at around 10 billion boe by year-end, a Rystad Energy analysis reveals.
Maersk Drilling has received a Conditional Letter of Award (CLOA) from Total E&P Suriname, Suriname Branch for the supply of two deepwater rigs, Maersk Developer and Maersk Valiant, for an exploration and appraisal project in Suriname’s Block 58. The campaign is expected to commence in early 2021, with an estimated firm combined duration of 500 days. The estimated firm total contract value is approximately USD 100m, including rig upgrades and integrated services provided.
St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) is currently undertaking cabling works for the addition of battery storage to its 3MW solar farm at La Tourney, Vieux Fort. The works began in October and will go on until December this year.
2020 has been an exceedingly difficult year for the energy industry and in particular, for energy services contractors. Seventy-five per cent of respondents indicated that the value of their business was below normal in Q3 2020. Seventyfive per cent of those companies indicated that the decline was due largely to reduced demand for services, while 67% also indicated that there were fewer business opportunities during the time period. To a lesser extent, companies also identified a decrease in selling prices and loss of contracts as other reasons for the reduced business.
Senator the Honourable Franklin Khan, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries assumed presidency at the 50th Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE) Meeting of Ministers which took place on November 19th, 2020 via webinar.
In its Q3 report, Touchstone Exploration unveiled that it has invested $5,758,000 in exploration activities onshore Trinidad. The expenditure has been primarily focused on Chinook-1 drilling operations and surface facility equipment expenditures relating to Coho-1 tie-in operations.
Ramps Logistics has been awarded a fully integrated contract with Tullow Oil for its upcoming drilling campaign in Block 47, Suriname. The company stated that the contract covers logistics and shore-based operations between Trinidad and Suriname.
Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc (Predator), the Jersey based Oil and Gas Company with operations in Trinidad, Morocco and Ireland, has announced that the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries has approved the use of the CO2 recovery system, installed and commissioned by Predator and Massy Gas Products, associated with the CO2 Pilot Project at the FRAM Exploration Gathering Station #4 in the Inniss-Trinity field.
In pursuit of achieving a target of 10% renewable energy in T&T, two solar projects will be built in Trinidad during the period 2021-2022. The developers of these projects are a consortium comprised of bpTT, Shell and Lightsource bp. The consortium is working with the government of Trinidad and Tobago to build the two projects which are located in Brechin Castle and Orange Grove. The projects are 92 megawatts and 20 megawatts respectively and will be among the largest in the region.
ExxonMobil and PETRONAS have discovered hydrocarbons at the Sloanea-1 exploration well on Block 52 offshore Suriname, adding to ExxonMobil’s extensive finds in the Guyana-Suriname basin. The well was drilled by operator PETRONAS, and the discovery is being evaluated to determine its resource potential.
Touchstone Exploration has once again confirmed the existence of natural gas deposits in the Ortoire Block in south east Trinidad. Touchstone’s latest well in its exploration drilling campaign, the Cascadura Deep-1 well, again discovered significant hydrocarbon accumulations. The company has stated that wireline logs indicated natural gas pay totaling approximately 1,315 net feet in four unique thrust sheets in the Herrera sands.
EnergyNow Issue 34
The Energy Chamber fully supports the privatization of the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery to put the asset to productive use. Significant capital investment is needed to bring the assets of the refinery back into productive and profitable use. This investment will need to be very carefully deployed and managed and there is significant risk involved. For this reason, the Energy Chamber is clear that no further Trinidad & Tobago tax-payers funds should go into this investment and that the capital must come from the private-sector. Given the size of the needed investment, the capital will likely be from an international investor, though local private-sector involvement would also be welcome. Click to read more…
