Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young says “it is completely wrong to say that the Prime Minister negotiated any gas price.”
Young made the comment yesterday in response to recent claims by individuals he described as “armchair experts” who have argued that the National Gas Company (NGC) is having difficulty purchasing gas from suppliers.
Young said NGC purchases gas mainly from BP, Shell and EOG. He said when the Government came into office in 2015, there was insufficient gas in T&T and the Office of the Prime Minister took a particular interest in ensuring the sustainability of our gas sector by rebuilding some of the relationships with upstream and downstream suppliers.
In addition to this, Young said NGC also had outstanding negotiations with BP, EOG and Shell which placed them in a difficult position.
He said if these companies who are upstream suppliers had not come to a concluded gas supply with NGC, it would have affected all the big players in Point Lisas.
When this roadblock was hit, Young said Rowley decided to meet with these companies in Houston in 2017, where they held discussions on the matter but did not agree on a price.
“If NGC and BP did not agree on that gas price increase in Houston in 2017 there would have been no more downstream industry in Trinidad.”
Young said NGC was now purchasing gas at a higher price, which has resulted in the gas being sold at a higher rate. He said the Government has also been accepting a smaller margin from NGC.
“It is being suggested by these individuals that it is the Prime Minister who negotiated a bad price for gas. That is simply not true.”
Young said he also received good news yesterday, as all of the shareholders of Atlantic LNG have agreed to continue for the next five years the life of Train One.