Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday said the People’s Partnership had left the country’s gas industry in dire straits, with companies operating on month-to-month arrangements because 25-year contracts that had either ended or were due to end were not negotiated.
In his contribution to the debate on the Finance Bill in the House of Representatives, Dr Rowley painted a grim picture of the industry in “a crisis of undersupply” and facing billions of dollars in liabilities as a result.
He said when contract negotiations for new gas prices started after 2015, T&T was in the worst possible bargaining position with “no wriggle room.”
Directing his comments to the Opposition benches, he declared: “You put that country in that situation.”
Dr Rowley said when he went to Houston, Texas, at the head of a T&T delegation to meet with BP executives it was because talks had broken down between the energy giant and the National Gas Company (NGC) and he as Prime Minister had to intervene.
“Gas price is not negotiated like buying hops in a parlour,” he said.
He said they were able to get the two sides talking and were able to negotiate a gas price. The alternative would have been shut down, he added.
Dr Rowley asked the Opposition to explain what had happened with the contract with OAS Construtora, the Brazilian firm that had been the main contractor for the Solomon Hochloy Highway extension project. He called on Tabaquite MP Dr Suruj Rambachan, who was the Works Minister at the time, to explain how a clause in the OAS contract which protected taxpayers was removed on the eve of the 2015 general election, allowing the firm to leave the country with $920 million.
Responding to criticisms of his administration’s handling of the shutdown of the Yara plant, Dr Rowley said the 50-year-old facility was inefficient and its future was a matter for its shareholders, not the government.
He also defended the Dragon Gas deal, noting that with only 12 years of proven gas reserves left in T&T, the intent was to get a supply from large, proven fields “right next door” for use in the local industry.
Dr Rowley said other nearby fields are already in Russian and Chinese hands, so the gas agreement with Venezuela was important.
“We have improved our position,” he said.
Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, who responded to the issues raised by the Prime Minister, said with the Dragon Gas deal the Opposition had always acted in the interest of the country. He said their role was to raise questions about the deal in the interest of transparency.
He said: “We warned the government that they were getting into a situation where that country was politically volatile.”