Gail Alexander
Senior Political Reporter
Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal is projecting a rapid “explosion” of higher oil prices due to the Israel/Iran/US conflict.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday during the debate on the supplementary 2025 Budget funding, Moonilal said a refinery restart committee was to be implemented to seek a quick technical assessment of the former Petrotrin refinery and a suitable partner will be sought to help resume operations.
And Government is working with the US and other authorities, including in Venezuela, on the cross-border gas reservoirs there.
Following the recent US strikes on Iran and reports of tankers reversing course near the Strait of Hormuz, Moonilal noted it was a major shipping route for energy products.
“So, we expect an increase in the price of oil ... rapid, they call it an explosion,” he said.
Noting Shell’s openness on the Manatee field exploration, Moonilal said Government brought “baracat” to the politics and governance to create good fortune and T&T is now looking at a 10 per cent increase in gas and its revenue also.
Moonilal, who said T&T has to produce more oil, noted the US President’s “drill baby drill” slogan. He said the Government’s mantra was “keep it pumping” and in a few days, a new Heritage Petroleum board will be in place, mandated to return oil production to 2015 levels.
On the refinery, Moonilal said, “We’ve worked with our labour sector partners—Patriotic Energies—and the OWTU to ensure we have a clear understanding of their plan and vision for reopening the refinery.”
He said as the Prime Minister announced last Thursday the Government had been working with the OWTU and others to look at a restart for the refinery.
“Several things have to happen at the same time: technical, scientific, commercial, economic, contractual. But we’re on the verge of implementing a refinery restart committee with technical experts agreed upon. The men and women of that committee have 500 years’ experience in the refinery service and we’re now going for quick technical assessment of that refinery.
“Then we’ll engage a suitable partner through a proper, open transparent process to help us to restart in terms of the technical capability,” Moonilal explained.
He said Government had to get an assessment and couldn’t continue spending $400,000 which is currently being paid—to a provider named Damus—for “mothballing” the plant without any lubricant being produced there.
“So, we’ll engage a relevant suitable partner. We’re speaking as well to the international community in terms of the technical part of the restart—what is required. Then we’re working with our partners in the labour sector and collaborating with others so in the shortest possible time we’ll have our refinery,” Moonilal said.
He said Government will then look at other players.
“We’re in discussions with the chamber in Guyana and with government officials to ensure we have some commonality there, so we can source the important inputs for the refinery from Suriname, Guyana and elsewhere, where we’ve always been sourcing oil for the refinery.”
Saying Government understood the importance of the cross-border gas reservoirs, he added, “We’re working with the authorities in the US and also with authorities elsewhere—in Venezuela as well—to ensure we can have some common approach to eventually benefitting from cross border fields.”
Noting that the US government had cancelled T&T’s licences for the Manakin-Cocuina and Dragon fields, Moonilal said, “We’re now working with all international partners to ensure those matters can be resolved in a way that benefits Caricom territories, be consistent with US foreign policy and also benefit the co-owners of those gas fields.”