Government wants T&T to take the lead regionally in responding to the impact of falling oil prices, Planning and Sustainable Development Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie said yesterday. Speaking at a news conference at the Eric Williams Financial Complex, Port-of-Spain, he said Government is in talks with leaders of regional governments.
"I want to let you know that T&T has always been proactive on these issues and Cabinet has agreed for the Minister of Planning, in consultation with the Finance Minister and Energy Minister, to establish an MoU with the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) looking at a Caribbean solution in which T&T is the lead player in terms of the energy challenge and crisis," he said.
Tewarie said the expectation is that the matter will be on the front burner when Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar attends the Caribbean Energy Security Summit to be hosted by US Vice President Joe Biden in Washington DC next week.
He said Government is also working with the T&T Chamber of Commerce, the IDB and other stakeholders and there are plans to look at the engagement with Venezuela in the Manatee field, particularly with the processing of gas.
"We might be able to process some of that in T&T and have a fair sharing of the revenue benefits," he said.
The minister said Government also plans to work with the Suriname and Guyanese governments and private sector to determine "where there are opportunities in oil and gas, linking that to strategies related to Northern Brazil."
"I have been working on this for a year-and-a-half with the IDB and other players like the Ministries of Finance and Energy," he said, adding that there are implications for ports and shipping lines with a new energy corridor being developed north of T&T.
He assured that talks with T&T's Caribbean neighbours are not intended to replace PetroCaribe but are for the purpose of finding an energy solution.
"No matter what the terms and conditions of PetroCaribe, you do have an awkward situation (falling oil prices) now," he said.
Tewarie said Government has been having the discussions over the last year about possible declining oil prices and the expectation is that international doners will come forward with a solution of which T&T would be a part.
"We don't want to get into anything in which we are the sole player," he said.