Despite high energy prices, T&T has been unable to reap rewards because of the stagnant growth in the sector for the past two years. Furthermore, this country needs to come to terms with the fact that it's no longer "the best game in town" A grim pronouncement from President of the Energy Chamber Charles Percy as he addressed delegates at the Chamber's annual Energy Conference yesterday. Percy observed that the local oil sector has underperformed with the decline in production continuing and now dipping below the 100,000 barrels per day level for the first time since 1957.
The decline, he explained, was exacerbated by the large number of proposed projects in the mid-stream and down-stream sectors which were cancelled or postponed. He also knocked the delays it took to get a project off the ground. However, he noted, there were some positives in the sector. "If you look at the weighted average of our production and prices of energy sector commodities, you see a good overall pattern of growth over the last two years–this is the energy commodity index that the Energy Chamber has worked with the Central Bank to develop," he said.
But given the strong fundamentals and the generally positive price environment, why are private-sector investments not flooding back into the T&T's energy sector? he asked. "The bottom-line is that investments will only be made when investors see a fair chance of making a reasonable positive return on their investment. Private-sector investment is driven by profit and if the country wants to attract private-sector investment, then the policymakers need to think like the private-sector. We must remember that with cheaper LNG supplies available globally and with shale gas economics becoming more and more competitive, Trinidad and Tobago is no longer the 'best game in town'," he said. This year's energy conference features over two hundred companies from nine countries, over thirty exhibitors at the Tradeshow and 600 odd delegates in attendance.