Conrad Enill is experiencing a sense of déjà vu.
Appointed as the High Commissioner for T&T to Guyana, Enill is seeing first-hand the developmental changes that the country is currently undergoing as it becomes a major global energy player.
“It feels sought of like when T&T found itself in a situation where it had lots of resources and it had choices to make,” Enill told the Business Guardian during an interview on the opening day of the International Energy Conference and Expo held at the Guyana Marriott Hotel in Georgetown.
“Guyana at this point in time is very much in that space,” he said.
Enill said the goal for Guyana is to create a world-class energy-competitive industry by 2030.
“That’s the objective and that’s what the policy position of the government is and that is where we in T&T and other countries are supporting that kind of activity,” Enill said.
“There is a need for skills and there is a need for infrastructure and it is in that space that T&T has offered to be an important part,” he said.
Last May, Enill was appointed High Commissioner to Guyana.
Before that appointment, Enill was chairman of the National Gas Company of T&T, after previously serving as a minister of Energy and minister in the Ministry of Finance.
Enill said the relationship between T&T and Guyana is one that has stood the test of time.
“One of the things that we don’t talk about a lot is that T&T and Guyana have had a very long relationship.
“In fact, even before Guyana found itself in this situation T&T was a partner in negotiating terms and conditions for Guyana at a time when nobody cared,” Enill said.
“So we have come to the table not as a newbie but as somebody who has been here for a while,” he said.
Enill said several T&T companies operating in Guyana have been doing so for quite some time.
“It is not that T&T companies have not been here, they have been here and I think that the relationship that now exists is one that you can leverage those relationships to build a better society,” he said.
Enill said he believes that collaboration is the way for this region to get ahead.
“The other thing about it is that we have found that the world has changed and the Caribbean is now at risk and because the Caribbean is now at risk on the basis of food issues, environmental issues, there is now an approach to dealing with it from a Caribbean perspective and we are very much in that conversation,” he said.
On Tuesday, some of the region’s heads of government and leaders in the global energy sphere converged at the Guyana Marriott hotel during the opening day of the four-day conference.
Enill welcomed the conference.
“I think what this is intended to do is to give all stakeholders a better appreciation of the reality of what is taking place rather than what is sometimes miscommunicated in the public domain,” he said.
“So I think what the conference seeks to do is to clarify issues, to answer questions and this is the environment where you learn what you need to do, to be successful. It is a fantastic place to be at this time,” he said.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley was on hand on the opening day to cut the ribbon to officially open the expo.
Delivering remarks at the ceremony Rowley said the majority of Caribbean countries rely on imports of petroleum products which represent 87 per cent of primary energy consumption.
And, as a result, oil importing countries in the Caribbean have reported spending of up to 15 per cent of annual GDP on fuel imports.
“The heavy dependence on imported energy has negatively affected the economic performance of many Caribbean nations, contributing to instability in both fiscal and external accounts.
“This includes T&T, which was importing most of its crude oil and creating refined products for its domestic needs and for the regional market,” Rowley stated.
“This import and refine model was being carried on with significant loan support from the national Treasury.
“By 2018, in the absence of an improved crude oil supply the accumulated debt and projections for sustained losses resulted in a restructuring of the state-owned company, and this included a closure of the refinery, which in the absence of a new source of crude, stands mothballed at Pointe-a- Pierre.
“This refinery and its supporting infrastructure are available for restart, upgrade and use on reasonable terms to any interested refiner or crude supplier,” he stated.
Asked his thoughts on Guyana purchasing the mothballed Pointe-a-Pierre refinery, Enill said:
“Guyana is developing a world-class type energy sector and there may be needs for a refinery, however it is going to be based on capital at the use of capital and whether capital can in fact be available for that. If it is and there is an opportunity, I think that it can work,” Enill said.
Enill said we are now facing different times.
“The challenges that we face going forward are slightly different and therefore the solutions that we must look for and the way that we have dealt with it in the past are different so if something hasn’t worked in the past that does not mean it wouldn’t work now.
“We are in different times and we are in difficult times and I think the only way we are going to get out of this is if we have a global approach and we look at ourselves as a region and we work as a region and that opportunity presents itself at this time,” he said.
Enill lauded the collaboration of T&T, Guyana and Suriname to lead the way for the region.
“If Suriname, Guyana and T&T could come together as a unit of energy then there is a lot that we can do with energy security, climate security and changing the conversation that is taking place in the world so that we can participate in a reformed world.
“And I think that that is the opportunity that exists here and that is what we are working on,” Enill said.