Primera awarded onshore block

Touchstone Exploration subsidiary Primera Oil and Gas Ltd announced success in the onshore and nearshore bid rounds opened last year.

Touchstone website stated the company was notified that it was awarded the Cipero onshore block in south central Trinidad.

Its bid on the Charuma block – a 72,784 gross acre block in central Trinidad – did not meet the technical requirements for granting a licence but the government authorised the Energy Ministry to improve the minimum work programme for the possible grant of an exploration and production licence.

Cipero block with a gross acreage of 29,924 is considered a strategic area for the company, given its proximity to the Rio Claro and Ortoire block. Herrera and Cretaceous prospects –subsurface oil reservoirs and source rocks – were identified in the Cipero block. Primera Oil said Heritage Petroleum is expected to have a 20 per cent working interest in the block, with all work and exploration commitments to be conducted during the six-year exploration term of the awarded licence.

Over three years, the company is expected to undertake geological studies, reprocess existing 2D seismic data and apply for regulatory permits before drilling. Paul Baay, CEO of Touchstone said,

“With this successful outcome, we have been able to secure extensive acreage in the Herrera fairway. Although the primary geological target for the Cipero acreage is the Herrera Formation, our team has also identified additional targets within the Cretaceous. We are excited to formally commence working on the block and will provide further updates and details when the licence has been executed.”

Onshore and nearshore bid rounds were opened on July 8 2022, offering eight different blocks for six months, until January 2023, when bids were evaluated by a committee over three months.

 

TOUCHSTONE ANNOUNCES 2022 TRINIDAD ONSHORE BID ROUND RESULTS

CALGARY, ALBERTA (June 13, 2023)

(“Touchstone”, “we”, “our”, “us” or the “Company”) (TSX, LSE: TXP) announces that Primera Oil and Gas Limited (“POGL”), our wholly owned Trinidadian subsidiary, was notified on June 12, 2023 by the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries (“MEEI”) that it was awarded the Cipero onshore block in the Trinidad and Tobago 2022 Onshore and Nearshore Competitive Bid Round. The Trinidad and Tobago government has authorized the MEEI to enter into discussions with POGL for the grant of an Exploration and Production (Public Petroleum Rights) Licence for the Cipero block (the “Licence”).

In addition, POGL was notified that its bid on the 72,784 gross acre Charuma block did not meet the technical requirements for the grant of an Exploration and Production (Public Petroleum Rights) Licence. However, the Trinidad and Tobago government has authorized the MEEI to enter into discussions with POGL to improve the minimum work program for the possible grant of a licence.

Highlights

• The 29,924 gross acre Cipero block is a strategic area given its proximity to Rio Claro and our Ortoire block.
• Our successful bid committed to complete various geological studies, reprocess existing 2D seismic data, and drill an aggregate four exploration wells on the block during the initial six-year exploration period of the Licence
• Heritage Petroleum Company Limited (“Heritage”) is expected to have a 20 precent working interest in the Cipero block, with all exploration work commitments carried during the six-year exploration term of the Licence.11
• Herrera and Cretaceous prospects have been identified on the Cipero block.

POGL will commence discussions with the MEEI to possibly enhance the minimum work program bid for the Charuma block.

Paul Baay, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“With this successful outcome, we have been able to secure extensive acreage in the Herrera fairway. Although the primary geological target for the Cipero acreage is the Herrera Formation, our team has also identified additional targets within the Cretaceous. In addition to the execution of the licence, we will be required to conduct geological studies, reprocess existing 2D seismic data, and apply for regulatory permits prior to drilling, which is anticipated to take a minimum of three years. We are excited to formally commence working on the block and will provide further updates and details when the licence has been executed.

Summary of Cipero Block Bid

Touchstone Exploration Inc.

Touchstone Exploration Inc. is a Calgary, Alberta based company engaged in the business of acquiring interests in petroleum and natural gas rights and the exploration, development, production and sale of petroleum and natural gas. Touchstone is currently active in onshore properties located in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The Company’s common shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange under the symbol “TXP”.

For further information about Touchstone, please visit our website at www.touchstoneexploration.com or contact:

Mr. Paul Baay, President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Scott Budau, Chief Financial Officer

Mr. James Shipka, Chief Operating Officer

Telephone: 403.750.4487

Advisory Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information provided in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements and information (collectively, “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, forecasts, estimates, expectations and objectives for future operations that are subject to assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “projects”, “potential” and similar expressions, or are events or conditions that “will”, “would”, “may”, “could” or “should” occur or be achieved. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release speak only as of the date thereof and are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Specifically, this news release includes, but is not limited to, forward-looking statements relating to the Company’s development and exploration plans and strategies, the expectation of executing the Licence in accordance with the Company’s bid, anticipated exploration activities on the block, and the expected terms of the Licence, including minimum work commitments based on the successful bid and minimum financial obligation data provided by the MEEI.

Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Certain of these risks are set out in more detail in the Company’s 2022 Annual Information Form dated March 23, 2023 which will be available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on the Company’s website (www.touchstoneexploration.com). The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company assumes no obligation or intent to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements made herein or otherwise, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

 

 

Trinity Exploration

13 Jun 2023

AIM-listed Trinity Exploration & Production, the independent E&P company focused on Trinidad and Tobago, announced updated guidance for 2023. A new corporate presentation which includes this updated guidance is now available to view on the Company website via the following link: https://trinityexploration.com/investors/investor-presentations/

2023 Guidance

Trinity provides the following update on guidance for 2023.

• Sales guidance of between 2,800-3,100 bopd (Q1 2023: 2,899 bopd; FY 2022: 2,975 bopd)
• Capex (USD) ranging between $16m-$18m (2022: $15.5m)
• Operating Cashflow (USD) guidance of $10m-$12m (2022: $12m)

Trinity considers Galeota redevelopment

• Trinity Exploration & Production is working on a revised development plan for its Galeota Block offshore eastern Trinidad, including the producing Trintes Field and other accumulations.
• Trinity has been operating and producing offshore the East Coast of Trinidad since 2013.

SAN FERNANDO, Trinidad — Trinity Exploration & Production is working on a revised development plan for its Galeota Block offshore eastern Trinidad, including the producing Trintes Field and other accumulations.

• It aims to deliver improved capital efficiency, shorter development and payback timelines, and to finalize its preferred option to progress the project by fourth-quarter 2023.
• Currently the Trintes Field has three producing platforms: Alpha, Bravo and Delta platforms. Last year 23 workovers took place, designed to optimize and stabilize production from all the wells, with chemical injection measures also applied to counteract increased solids deposition in mature wells.
• The facilities team replaced gratings on the production decks and implemented improvements to electrical equipment, with floor space repurposed to provide improved access and more efficient use of the work area.
• In addition, accommodation units were replaced, and fuel and water tanks were upgraded and repositioned. A new 10,000-bbl storage tank to accommodate production from the Trintes Field should be fully operational shortly.

06.01.2023

 

Trinity Exploration Galeota asset development

 

27 Jun 2023

 

 

Challenger Energy

01 Jun 2023

AIM-listed Challenger Energy, the Caribbean and Americas focused oil and gas company, with a range of oil production, development, appraisal, and exploration assets, has provided an update in relation to the sale of the Cory Moruga licence, onshore Trinidad.

On 8 March 2023, the Company announced that it had entered into an agreement with Predator Oil and Gas pertaining to the sale of the Cory Moruga asset in Trinidad.

It was noted that completion of the transaction was conditional on consent of the Trinidad Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries (‘MEEI’) to a revised work programme for the Cory Moruga licence proposed by the Company, as well as agreement of MEEI to a revision of future fees for the Cory Moruga licence and a settlement / cancellation of past claimed dues pertaining to the Cory Moruga licence.

It was further noted that the parties had agreed to work together to secure the required consents, and thus achieve completion, as soon as reasonably practicable on or before 30 May 2023, with a long stop date of 31 August 2023.

Since March 2023, the parties have worked together as required, and are engaged in a dialogue with MEEI. This is proceeding well, but the conditions for completion of the transaction have not been satisfied as at 30 May 2023. The parties remain confident, however, that appropriate consents and agreement with MEEI will be forthcoming based on dialogue with MEEI.

Accordingly, the parties have mutually agreed to an extension of the 30 May 2023 target date for completion of the intended transaction, to coincide with the long-stop date of 31 August 2023.

Source: Challenger Energy

 

 

Awards for onshore exploration

May 29 (Reuters)

The Trinidad and Tobago government accepted bid recommendations for six of eight onshore oil and gas exploration blocks, setting the stage for awards to be disclosed soon.

The petrostate pushed to expand exploration to counter declines in oil and gas production. Gas and petrochemicals provide a large part of its export revenue.

A decision to award licenses was taken by the cabinet on the recommendation of Energy Minister Stuart Young.

Trinidad and Tobago’s A&V Oil and Gas Ltd was recommended for the St. Mary’s block.

Touchstone Exploration Inc (TXP.TO) was recommended for the Cipero block, Eco Oil and Gas Solutions for the Tulsa block, and Challenger Energy received the Guayaguayare block,.

“Touchstone is happy that we got the Cipero block because that was our number one,” said Paul Baay, Touchstone’s chief executive.

Nabi Construction (Trinidad and Tobago) Ltd won Aripero Block

Trinity Exploration & Production Plc, received Buenos Aires block..

“We are not in a position to comment until any of the bid round awards are confirmed and announced by the Ministry,” Trinity finance chief Julian Kennedy said.

The winning bids were selected based on their willingness to conduct seismic studies and the proposed number of wells. Some winners also agreed to pay signing bonuses.

The energy ministry expects to pursue negotiations with companies that bid on the two unawarded blocks to gauge whether they might improve their offers, cabinet sources told Reuters.

 

 

Proman backs bunkering incentives

2023 06/08

Lisa-Marie Ramlal, Proman’s sustainability manager said securing T&T’s energy transition across all sectors requires critical factors including funding, creating an enabling environment and proper infrastructure like a bunkering hub.

These are all key to the maritime sector especially,. She was among key stakeholders who presented at the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference themed, “From Ideas to Action” which signified the transition from theoretical concepts and innovative ideas to practical and feasible actions to address regional energy challenges.

The theme further emphasised the need for collaborative efforts and partnerships between industry experts, policymakers, academia, and stakeholders to implement sustainable solutions and achieve tangible outcomes in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency. “From Ideas to Action” also highlighted the importance of converting ideas into practical and actionable plans, leveraging the latest technology and innovation and incorporating best practices and lessons learned from successful projects worldwide.

“The Caribbean region has been facing significant energy challenges, including high dependence on fossil fuels, energy insecurity and the negative impact of climate change.
“The theme seeks to inspire and motivate participants to collaborate and take concrete steps towards achieving a more sustainable, secure, and resilient energy future in the Caribbean.
“By bridging the gap between ideas and action, the conference aims to promote knowledge sharing, capacity building, and networking among experts, practitioners, and stakeholders, ultimately leading to the implementation of effective and sustainable solutions for the region’s energy challenges.”

According to Ramlal, based at Proman headquarters in Switzerland, while there have been strides, the maritime sector still faces some obstacles in achieving its quest for cleaner energy.

“Many vessel owners are tasked with the responsibility of employing high-cost initiatives such as technology to outfit their ships. These are quite capital intensive and therefore, they need to have a variety of technology and alternate fuels they can select from. So one of the challenges in that particular sector would be the ability to utilise these technologies; however, they are quite expensive.
“Carbon capture, for instance, is still very costly and under evaluation. These are good things but to bring them to a more feasible place you need incentives and policy mechanisms for these ship and vessel owners to make the switch.”

Proman has over 35 years of experience operating in the local energy sector and globally the company manufactures around six million metric tonnes of methanol per year, the majority of which is produced in Trinidad.

More important is a bunkering hub.

“The opportunity for Trinidad is that we (Proman) already have knowledge, expertise and technical expertise in the area of methanol production. We have a lot of safe operating procedures already established, so the opportunity here for Trinidad is to develop a bunkering hub which utilises various fuels, one of them being methanol.”

Last November, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said that T&T will explore a bunkering industry, based on the use of methanol as a marine fuel. At the launch of Proman’s methanol-fuelled tanker, Stena Pro Patria, the Prime Minister said T&T would seek to take advantage of its geographical location, of being close to the Panama Canal by offering fuel services for ships.

Reiterating the importance of such a facility, Ramlal said it is also an important job creator for the sector.

“Tug boats, surveyors, the port authority, logistics, all of these areas are benefiting now indirectly and directly from the business that has been generated from the bunkering hub.”

Geographical location is also ideal, with a sheltered coastline and trade routes close to the Panama Canal.

With over 100 years of experience in oil and natural gas, Ramlal said the bunkering hub could play a key role in the country’s energy transition.   However, support from the Government, as well as necessary policies, are needed to bring this to fruition.

“We also need incentives to ensure the licences are available to allow for the bunkering of ship to ship or any other mechanisms or procedures to be in place…infrastructure, any modification or minor modification, low investment we anticipate because the infrastructure is already developed around that but these are some of the aspects to look into to make it feasible.”

On whether T&T still has a long way to go to truly meet its sustainability goals as far as energy transition is concerned, Ramlal referenced the largest solar park in the Caribbean which is about to be built at Brechin Castle.

“That is actually a pivotal point for Trinidad. I think to divert some of the natural gas that is being directed to the electricity sector now for the downstream business because obviously, the feedstock for our methanol and ammonia plants is natural gas. Where we can direct the value for Trinidad and Tobago through the use of renewables…that to me is an idea which has turned to action.”.

In sharing insights into Proman’s sustainability unit which was established just under a year ago, Ramlal said, “The objectives are to monitor all activities, projects that we are exploring, existing plants and new projects in terms of our impact on climate change as well as environmental impact and social aspects and ensure that we are aligned and achieving the group’s goals.”

As a woman holding such an integral position in that unit, Ramlal disclosed, “I never felt in our company that we (women) were disadvantaged. I always felt that Proman is a very diverse place to work and now that I have shifted to the headquarters, it is no different. We have a diverse set of employees coming from Germany, the Trinidad office, Portugal and the US working together and my team is actually two women and one guy.”

The two-day conference was hosted by the T&T Energy Chamber at the Hyatt Regency hotel, Port-of-Spain.   The third day featured tours of energy assets in T&T.

The Energy Chamber of T&T established this conference in 2017. It was the first conference dedicated to the promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy in Trinidad and Tobago. The conference has since grown in prominence in the energy landscape in T&T and the wider region and by the number of participants.

The conference had several iterations of its name and is now known as the “The Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference” to ensure that it fully represents all topics under the issue of energy transition in the Caribbean.

 

 

 

HELM Proman Methanol relaunches marketing business

HELM Proman Methanol (HPM), a market leader in global methanol supply solutions and part of the Proman family of companies, relaunched its worldwide marketing business under a new brand name, Valenz.

A release from Proman on Tuesday said Valenz will bring together the international marketing networks of its founding partners to create a global leader in the methanol marketing industry. Its focus is on growing the market for methanol as a versatile solution for customers and partners striving for a more sustainable future.

It said it will provide comprehensive methanol logistics and marketing solutions, bringing together regional leaders in the European, Asian and American markets. Valenz is also a joint venture between the industry leaders and long-term partners HELM AG and Proman AG.

Valenz is headquartered in Wollerau, Switzerland with two principal offices in Houston, US and Singapore.

It said Valenz comes from the word valence and the etymology of the word means strength, capacity, and value, but more specifically, valence refers to the combining potential of molecules.

Anita Gajadhar, managing director of Valenz, and executive director of marketing, logistics and shipping at Proman said, “This is a dynamic and exciting time to be in the methanol industry due to the growth of the alternative fuels market. Widely available low-emission methanol from natural gas can be blended with increasing quantities of low-carbon and green methanol to offer a versatile and future-proof pathway to decarbonising a range of industries. As such, this is the perfect time to launch our new global marketing brand, and our commitment to being innovative and responsive to our customers’ needs is stronger than ever.”

Peter Harders, global director operations and strategic development at Valenz added, “Valenz combines global reach with flexibility, insight and expertise to generate additional value for our customers by unlocking full value chain efficiencies. We remain committed to delivering exceptional customer service drawing on our deep-rooted experience in methanol marketing and logistics to guide customers with confidence at every turn.”

Further information can be found on the new Valenz website www.valenzgroup.com.

 

 

Proman launches foundation with US$1.65m

Proman volunteers engaging in their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.

Proman, the methanol and ammonia producer, launched its first charitable entity, the Proman Foundation which will create a new structure and embed an employee-led approach to the company’s long-term community engagement, skills development and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes in TT.

The foundation will begin with an initial investment of US$1.65 million for 2022-2023. Proman said with this allocation, it will continue to build partnerships with local and global programme partners to deliver high-impact initiatives.

Claus Cronberger, Proman Trinidad’s executive director and chairman of the Proman Foundation said, “We are extremely proud to launch the Proman Foundation, which builds on our long-standing commitment to community support and development across TT. The foundation enables our team to increase targeted support to initiatives delivering measurable and lasting impact, which are closely aligned with Proman’s core sustainability commitments. Most importantly, our employees will be at the heart of the foundation, actively engaged in every step of the process, from nominating, screening and assessing each partnership, to volunteering their efforts to support the programmes that are delivering meaningful change within our communities. I take this opportunity to thank all our charitable and NGO partners and supporters for their remarkable efforts to date, which have transformed the lives of so many. We look forward to continuing and expanding this work through our ongoing investment and partnerships.”

Projects supported by the foundation will be managed through and guided by five main pillars of CSR:

1. education and skills training, environment,
2. health,
3. safety and sustainability,
4. arts and culture,
5. sports and community development.

Proman said the CSR pillars are aligned with its sustainability objectives and its commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Proman Foundation is governed by a board of directors and supported by an employee CSR committee. So far, the foundation has made flagship investments through its partner programme with:

• Habitat for Humanity TT,

• Merry Boys Cricket Club,

• Presentation College, San Fernando

• Proman Starlift Steel Orchestra,

• Prince’s Trust International

• The University of TT (UTT) – MTCC Caribbean, Centre for Maritime and Ocean Studies

• The University of the West Indies (UWI)

• The TT Commonwealth Games Association

Proman said in its latest phase of long-term partnership, it helped over 860 people across TT through delivery of Habitat for Humanity’s construction technology training programmes. That includes provision of resilient roof retrofitting solutions, development of rainwater harvesting systems and the completion of other construction projects to enable our communities to better withstand natural disasters.

Jennifer Massiah, Habitat for Humanity TT’s national director said, “We firmly believe that for real transformation to take place throughout our nation, focus must be on community and youth engagement. Through our Care (Creating A Resilient Community) disaster mitigation programme with the Proman Foundation, families in TT are able to have their homes safely fortified against the adverse effects of high winds, floods and other natural disasters.

Additionally, our young adults with minimum construction skills are also building their capacity through a very intensive construction technology course, which adds to community empowerment. Together we are strengthening the capacities of our young people, while building resilient communities.”

Through the projects being implemented with our partners, we strive to always make a positive contribution across the communities we serve. Proman Foundation is committed to investing in initiatives that will deliver measurable and sustainable returns to our employees, our communities and TT.

 

 

Duprey ordered to pay US$139m for bad Clico Energy deal

Justice Devindra Rampersad ordered Lawrence Duprey to pay the conglomerate, on trust, US$139,416,295, which represents the proceeds of a deal he made in 2009 with Proman Holdings (Barbados) Ltd for shares of the group’s crown jewel, Clico Energy.

In September 2021, Rampersad reserved the issue of damages against Duprey in a complex lawsuit filed by CLF and its insurance subsidiary CLICO, over the sale of the lucrative energy assets in Process Energy (Trinidad) Ltd (PETL), made three days after the Government bailed out the companies in early 2009.

Rampersad ruled then that the former CL Financial chairman acted oppressively and unfairly and in a manner prejudicial to both companies’ interests when he cut the deal to sell CLF and Clico’s 51 per cent stake for a little over US$46.5 million.

He also ruled that the company was grossly undervalued, and voided the sale, ordering Proman Holdings to pay CLF the dividends it had collected from the shares since 2009, plus interest.

In turn, CLF was ordered to reimburse Proman Holdings for the purchase price, plus interest, while the issue of the quantum of damages Duprey had to pay was reserved pending further submissions from the attorneys for CLF and Clico.

Proman Holdings appealed Rampersad’s decision. In January, Justices Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Gregory Smith, and Vasheist Kokaram reserved their ruling, which is still to be delivered. Duprey, who was unrepresented at the trial, did not appeal the judge’s findings.

In his ruling against Duprey, Rampersad held that he exercised his powers as chairman and director of CLF and Clico “in a manner that was oppressive and/or unfairly prejudicial” to CLF and Clico and “unfairly disregarded” their interests.

Duprey was also accused of failing to act honestly and in good faith and to exercise care, diligence, and skill.

Rampersad also ordered Duprey to pay interest on the US$139,416,295 at a rate of 2.5 per cent per annum from February 2009-November 12, 2021, and as well as at the statutory rate of five per cent until payment.

CLF and Clico were also given the liberty to apply for any further dividends which may be established after November 12, 2021, until Proman transfers or restores the shares to CLF. This will be contingent on the Appeal Court’s ruling on the voiding of the sale.

At the time of the deal, CLF controlled 34 per cent and Clico another 17 per cent, with the remaining shares in PETL, which previously operated as Clico Energy Company Ltd, being held by Proman.

The deal resulted in Proman’s controlling the entire company, which held a sizeable portion of the group’s stake in Methanol Holdings Trinidad Ltd (MHTL) and other minor stakes in profitable energy companies.

In 2014, the International Court of Arbitration ordered Clico to sell its remaining shares in MHTL to Proman’s subsidiary Consolidated Energy Ltd (CEL) for US$1.175 billion (TT$7.485 billion).

CLF and Clico were represented by Fyard Hosein, SC, Deborah Peake, SC, Kerwyn Garcia, SC, Sasha Bridgemohansingh and Luana Boyack.

Proman and Process Energy were represented by Christopher Hamel-Smith, SC, Jonathan Walker, David Hamel-Smith and Catherine Ramnarine.

 

 

 

NGC collaborates with engineers

The National Gas Company (NGC) signed separate master service agreements (MSAs) with two major engineering firms operating locally-

Massy Wood Ltd (Massy Wood) and Worley Trinidad Ltd (Worley).

Both MSAs will provide design engineering and project-management services to support planning and implementation of strategic project initiatives. They will also help build and leverage synergies which will support NGC operations and can be accessed by the individual companies in the NGC group over the next three years.

The MSAs will further NGC efforts to be on par with best-practice standards and improve the cycle time between the planning and execution phases of projects.

The release added that the signing of these agreements signifies NGC’s willingness to engage and align with key stakeholders to promote the use of locally based engineering and project management to support the vision to become an international integrated energy company.

Additionally, the services to be provided by Massy Wood and Worley will allow NGC to access a broader suite of engineering and project-management services to bolster its in-house capabilities. This will ultimately serve to improve and enhance NGC’s value proposition to potential partners and support any future business opportunities for NGC to manage and execute projects.

NGC views these MSAs as working examples of its commitment to value creation opportunities by harnessing local capabilities and leveraging technical know-how to create avenues for future growth in the energy sector.

NGC president Mark Loquan executed Master Services Agreements with Priya Maharaj-Glasgow Senior Director, Operations, Worley Trinidad Limited, and Mala Baliraj Chief Executive Officer, Massy Wood Limited.

He said, “As NGC continues to leverage and build its own project-management and supply-chain-management capabilities, as evident from local projects with ETeck to international projects in Ghana, the company is taking steps to partner with companies that share NGC’s standards and principles to deliver best-in-class projects, developing the local expertise in the process and improving our agility as the environment demands.”

 

 

 

2027 Revival of Atlantic LNG Train

June 7, 2023

HOUSTON, June 7 (Reuters) – Latin America’s largest LNG exporter, Trinidad and Tobago aims to restart an inactive liquefied natural gas (LNG) unit by the first quarter of 2027 after restructuring of the ownership of the facility and negotiation of new gas supplies. Joint venture company Atlantic LNG has been unable to access enough supply in recent years to maintain operations at its four liquefaction units. Trinidad and Tobago has the capacity to process 4.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) into LNG, petrochemicals and power but its gas production is about 2.7 bcfd.

The government pressed gas producers to increase offshore output to restart the dormant 500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) unit, Train One, which was closed at the end of 2020, due to reduced gas supply. The restart will follow a proposed revamp of Atlantic LNG ownership and its gas-supply provisions.

After four years of negotiations, in December the partners of Atlantic LNG agreed to restructure ownership of the LNG firm in which Trinidad’s National Gas Company (NGC), BP (BP.L), Shell (SHEL.L), and the Chinese Investment Corporation held different equity stakes in the different units, with a new combined shareholding..

The partners will merge their individual equity stakes into a unified ownership structure. In simplifying the structure, Shell and BP will each own a 45% stake in the plant’s four units with NGC holding the remaining 10% of each train.. As a prerequisite to a final investment decision on an offshore gas field, Shell told the government that Atlantic LNG had to be restructured, and warned that any hiccup could delay gas availability to as late as 2028.

Shell and BP declined to comment on the ongoing ownership negotiations. The changes would eliminate the CIC 10% stake in Train One.

Energy Minister Stuart Young said Atlantic LNG restructuring was gathering pace and would be completed soon, but declined to elaborate on details, after NGC

“We are in the process of finalizing the definitive agreements. Hopefully, (it will be ready) at the end of the third quarter, start of the fourth quarter of this year.”

Restructuring will allow Atlantic LNG to buy gas from producers who are not plant co-owners, clearing the way for Woodside Energy (WDS.AX) and EOG Resources (EOG.N) to sell gas to Atlantic LNG when available.

Previously, only owners BP and Shell could provide gas to the plant.

The government separately is negotiating fiscal and commercial terms with Shell and Woodside, operators of two offshore gas development projects, Manatee and Calypso. The first offshore development that could deliver new gas is expected to be Shell’s Manatee field.

Trinidad also hopes to import gas from Venezuela’s Dragon gas field while receiving supplies from Woodside Energy’s Calypso, under proposed $5 billion investments in energy exploration and production through 2026.

The U.S. Treasury Department issued a license in January to Trinidad, Shell and NGC to develop with Venezuela’s heavily sanctioned state company PDVSA up to 4.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas in Dragon, near the maritime border between the two countries.

Shell’s Manatee field has 2.7 tcf of gas on the Trinidad side, with neighboring Venezuela owning another 7.3 tcf in the cross-border field.

Shell in mid-May submitted a field development plan to the energy ministry that calls for production of 700 mmcfd. Other volumes could become available if Venezuela agrees to process its portion of the field’s gas in Trinidad.

Background
Atlantic LNG restructuring agreement could open doors for gas sector

 

 

Unitised liquefaction trains could facilitate investment in the country and provide third party access to boost feedstock

14 December 2022 Gareth Chetwynd in London

Partners in the Atlantic LNG project have agreed to restructure ownership in a move that will increase equity of Trinidad & Tobago state-owned National Gas Company across the liquefaction trains and create a single commercial structure. The restructuring took four years of negotiations and NGC took shares in all of the facility’s four trains, allowing for a unitised business model and, crucially, opening the door to third party access. Previously NGC had shares in two Atlantic LNG trains.

Only three of the four trains are currently active as operation of Train 1 was suspended in late 2020 due to a shortfall in natural gas reserves in Trinidad & Tobago. UK supermajors BP and Shell remain as owners of the three active liquefaction trains, but reduced their equity in two of them to make way for NGC.

“After years of discussions, negotiations and dialogue we are here to sign agreements that will create a simplified commercial structure for the Atlantic LNG venture,” said Shell’s country chair Eugene Okpere at a signing ceremony.

Prime Minister Keith Rowley welcomed the simplified structure to the Atlantic LNG business and said it would help unlock about $5 billion of upstream investment in the country through 2026. The new structure would allow the government to take a more active role in the commercial arrangements for marketing LNG, especially on new fields such as Manatee.

“At present, we have several upstream projects either with the (Atlantic LNG) shareholders or third parties which are awaiting final investment decision. If we are to make this project a success we need to bring these upstream projects on stream and accessible to the restructured (Atlantic LNG) facility.”

Both Shell and BP have been investing steadily in Trinidad & Tobago’s upstream sector in recent years.

BP recently started up gas production from its Cassia C offshore compression platform, its biggest offshore facility in the country, facilitating the exploitation of low pressure gas resources from the Greater Cassia Area.

BP Trinidad president David Campbell said the restructuring agreement will make the pricing of Atlantic LNG more responsive to markets and make investments more efficient. BP plans for 2023 include a seven-well subsea tie-back for the Cypre development and, over the longer term, it is interested in sanctioning development of the Ginger and Coconut discoveries. BP is in ongoing negotiations over acquiring new deep-water acreage following a bid round earlier this year.

The provisions on third party access, although lacking in detail, could help bring in new gas reserves to the Atlantic LNG facility. Possible sources include offshore gas straddling the maritime border with Venezuela or reserves entirely within Venezuelan territory, should both sides opt for a monetisation route through Atlantic LNG. The two petrostates in 2019 signed a binational agreement, agreeing to export gas from the shallow-water Dragon field across the maritime border to the Shell-operated Hibiscus field, about 23 kilometres away.

Dragon, which has completed subsea wells in place, was expected to send initial volumes of between 200 million and 300 million cubic feet of gas per day to Hibiscus, from where it could replenish feedstocks for Atlantic LNG. However, the scheme was paused when the US hiked its sanctions against Venezuela over disputed elections there.

Similarly, the Loran field, which straddles the maritime border with the Shell-operated Manatee field in Trinidad waters, is a prime candidate for fast-tracking via an export system to Trinidad & Tobago.

Trinidad last year granted a 25-year production sharing contract for the Manatee field as a result of the government-to-government agreement to allow development and marketing arrangements in which gas to the domestic market would be via NGC and exports via the Atlantic LNG facilities.

Just over a quarter of the 10 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves on Loran-Manatee lie on the Trinidad & Tobago side of the maritime border.

The restructuring agreement might bring the final investment decision closer, now that US sanctions are easing. NGC president Mark Loquan said,

“It is expected that with the completion of the Atlantic restructuring exercise, focus can now be placed on investment decisions to pursue development projects such as Manatee and the deep-water acreage that will hopefully bring more gas into the system. With Atlantic’s future made more secure by this restructuring, we hope to see more development activity, which ultimately boosts gas availability and long-term sustainability for the local gas industry.”.

Industry insiders saw the mention of third party access as a potential game changer that could facilitate a monetisation route for Australia’s Woodside Energy to develop gas resources obtained from the acquisition of BHP’s oil and gas assets, including the Calypso discovery.

 

 

 

Aquaterra drilling riser for Cypre subsea project

Aquaterra Energy has been contracted by bp to provide a subsea riser system for the Cypre gas development offshore .Offshore staff

NORWICH, UK – Aquaterra Energy has been contracted by bp to provide a subsea riser system for the Cypre gas development offshore. The equipment will operate from a jackup rig drilling seven development wells in a water depth of about 80 m. Activities are due to start this year, with first gas in 2025. Aquaterra Energy will work alongside local fabricators, also performing rig modifications.

05.23.2023

 

 

 

 

Scandalous State Squandermania as citizens suffer

2022 05/04

Chairman of the NGC Conrad Enill claimed that a quarter of a billion TT dollars the National Gas Company (NGC) pumped into Atlantic LNG Train 1, which has not since processed a molecule of natural gas, was for maintenance costs. not an investment into LNG production.

Asked if a year on he felt it was a mistake to spend 250 million dollars on Train 1 Enill said: “Oh absolutely not. I don’t know why people talk about it as an Atlantic investment, it was a maintenance cost basically, that we committed to in circumstances where we had gas and that created for us an opportunity, should the gas not have a take up. That’s what it was.  I did not lose a quarter billion dollars, because today, the plant continues to operate. The plant, where Train 1 is part of the infrastructure, continues without any safety issues. I was more concerned about the safety issues.

“Primarily it was about maintenance. The decision we took was maintenance. In looking at the maintenance issues, we also created opportunities that we could have pursued had the conditions remain as they were. Conditions changed as it relates to events we found out about through the process and the market.

Last year the NGC chairman said the company was relying on gas contracted to the downstream petrochemical sector in its effort to restart Train 1 but the market changed and the downstream companies demanded their gas, making its plan inoperable and the TTD250 million investment in restarting Train1 unnecessary.

He admitted the reason the Board wanted an indemnity from the Government was because it knew that the success or failure of the deal was not in its hands and effectively the Board was putting the success of the investment in hands of the Government and did not want to take the fall if it failed.

Enill said, “If you look at what the conditions were at that point in time, the NGC found itself in a situation where most of these downstream companies were not taking the gas allocated to them.

“So we had a situation where we had gas, we had to pay for gas and the downstreamers were basically saying, on the basis of the cost that is available to us, we prefer to shut our plants down, at least for some time. And in those circumstances, we had a situation where the NGC faced a significant amount of losses.”

To understand the issue more closely the NGC has take or pay contracts with gas producers bpTT, Royal Dutch Shell, BHP and EOG.

This means the NGC has to take the contracted gas and if it cannot, it has to still pay for it. However the NGC sells that gas to the petrochemical companies and traditionally has had no such agreement.

This means the NGC has to take the gas it has contracted from the upstream companies and then sell it onto the petrochemical companies, but if they refuse it, then the NGC is left holding the bag.

Enill explained the situation in December 2020: “We looked at the situation where we had gas, domestic gas, and BP wrote to us and said we have some shortages, we think it is going to be about a month or so, we understood that was normal and we could deal with that.

“So we were working on the basis that we had gas, and we had no takers. We had planned a Train 1 maintenance of which the NGC would pay some portion because we are part owners in Train 1. Atlantic said, we need you to make a decision because by January 12, 2021 if you do not commit to the maintenance on this plant, the next opportunity that you have is in a November of 2021, because immediately, as soon as your plant is maintained, we have to do shut downs on two and then three in the normal course of things…

“We found ourselves in a situation therefore where, NGC took the decision that we are going to support maintenance of the plant although the others (BPTT, Shell, the Chinese investors) decided that they were not going to so do, because we understood that we had gas that was available for domestic which we were negotiating, which if it had been converted to LNG to at least give us some revenue.“

“We committed to the downstream producers that once they wanted the gas, the gas would have been available to them. So we moved the gas back into that facility. And the challenge the NGC had with having gas, having to pay for the gas, and having no opportunity for converting it to revenue was resolved.

“In those circumstances therefore the investment in keeping Train1 operational to use the gas for LNG, was no longer required because the gas was back into the downstreamers and the company had been restored to the revenue position that it was looking for.”

The industry continues to be plagued by accidents and mismanagement.

 

 

Tragedy halts NiQuan operations

NiQuan is a Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) plant located on the SOC Heritage compound at Pointe-a-Pierre.

The leadership team has instilled a visible philosophy of collective responsibility, to support the corporate vision of best-in-class workmanship and safety,

 The Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) ordered NiQuan Energy Trinidad Ltd to halt operations after a worker succumbed to severe injuries in a fire at its Pointe-a-Pierre plant. Massy Energy employee Allan Lane Ramkissoon was injured at the company’s gas-to-liquids plant during an “accidental flashfire.” He had burns around 60 per cent and further injuries when he jumped ten feet to escape the flames in the room where he was trapped. Ramkissoon died two days later at a specialist burns unit in Colombia.

 OSHA issued a prohibition notice to NiQuan and said that it will be investigating the incident. NiQuan cannot operate until OSHA gives clearance. OSHA received a report on the accident a day later and its inspectors responded immediately to launch an investigation “in the context of the duties and requirements of the OSHA Chapter 88:08 and to seek to determine the cause.”
OSHA sent condolences to Ramkissoon’s family, and “remains committed to fostering the protection of the safety and health of all persons in workplaces in TT and compliance with the OSH Act.

 

 

NiQuan and the Energy Ministry launched investigations.

 

OWTU wants Government to examine NiQuan operations

2023 06/22

Following the recent death of a worker in a second incident at the NiQuan plant in Pointe-a-Pierre, the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) says it’s time for Government to examine the arrangement with NiQuan and get improvements.

Opposition UNC wants Government to answer a number of queries on the incident, following the death on Labour Day of Allanlane Ramkissoon, an employee of Massy Energy Engineered Solutions Ltd (MEES) who had been doing maintenance work at NiQuan on June 15 when the incident occurred. Ramkissoon suffered severe burns and was hospitalised. He was later flown to Colombia for treatment but subsequently died.

The Energy Ministry initiated a probe of the matter, as has the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA). The Energy Chamber, meanwhile, called for the report to be made public.

OWTU said that the report should be made public and also noted that the report on the April 2021 explosion at NiQuan should be revealed.

“We stand with Mr Ramkissoon’s family, as we do with the families of the late LMCS divers who died in the Paria pipeline debacle. The recent NiQuan incident occurred after the company’s resumption of work (last September) following the April 2021 explosion at NiQuan.

“It’s the latest example of complete breakdown of health and safety standards. The model that’s being used in the energy sector is costing citizens’ lives and has serious implications for T&T’s reputation. After two incidents at NiQuan—where we can’t get a report on the first one and a worker has died in the second—we definitely need to get reports on both. It’s getting to a point where Government must examine the feasibility of its arrangement with Niquan and seek improvements, as it’s turning out to be more of a liability than an asset to T&T. There’s no union in NiQuan to watchdog and protect workers so the current arrangement isn’t feasible.”

UNC MP Rudy Indarsingh, expressing condolences to Ramkissoon’s family, added, “That Mr Ramkissoon should meet his untimely death while on the job at NiQuan’s plant hours before workers demonstrated on Labour Day is the reason why there must be immediate and clear answers to the many concerns raised. The reports that this young man came into contact with a faulty pipeline that spewed flammable naphtha liquid onto him raises many questions.”

Indarsingh expressed concern about the Prime Minister’s uncertainty over whether the report of the investigation of the incident would be made public.
”Occupational Health and Safety legislation and guidelines as approved by statutory bodies for the operation of industrial plants must be observed across the board, regardless of if the owning entity is a public or private organisation. All organisations must be subject to the authority of T&T’s law …

“Before this incident in which Mr Ramkissoon lost his life, and before the 2021 explosion which rocked south Trinidad, Keith Rowley declared that the NiQuan plant was a success. Those of us who are alarmed and woefully concerned about its safety and its sustained position at the centre of controversy stand to say otherwise.”

Indarsingh urged the Prime Minister to make public the advice that he received that the report into the 2021 NiQuan explosion could/should not be made public because it was a private entity.

“Why the cover-up? This is the same NiQuan plant which was purchased by a PNM Government—in which Dr Rowley sat—under the authority of then chairman of Petrotrin Malcolm Jones ...”

UNC wants Govt to answer

• • When last was the job site inspected for leaks, and what was the outcome?
• • Was there a report that can verify that such pipelines were approved as being of sound integrity?
• • Were fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, and fire escapes positioned as required by Occupational Health and Safety best practice, and were they functional? If so, then why was there no indication that such were used to reach Mr Ramkissoon or to extinguish the flames on him?
• • Is there any truth to reports that an ambulance arrived close to three hours after being called? If so, why was there such a delay?
• • Why was Mr Ramkissoon taken to Westshore Medical Private Hospital, Port-of-Spain, rather than to the San Fernando General Hospital or the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, both of which are equipped to deal with emergencies and are closer to NiQuan’s plant?
• • In light of the closure of the Augustus Long Hospital, has this PNM Government moved to establish adequate burns treatment facilities in the vicinity of the surrounding industrial areas?
• • Has the Occupational Health and Safety Agency (OSHA) taken control of the job site and locked it down pending an OSHA-led investigation as required in the Occupational Health and Safety Act?
• • Who has been identified to serve on the investigative committee established by the Ministry of Energy? We recall that a similar committee established by the same minister, Minister Stuart Young, to investigate last year’s Paria Diving Tragedy had to be disbanded after the Opposition revealed a conflict of interest regarding then appointee Eugene Tiah, given his personal relationship with Minister Young. Can the country be assured that there will be no conflict of interest or attempts of a ‘cover-up’ in this latest fiasco?

 

Energy Chamber urges swift, transparent probe of fatal NiQuan accident

A report on the incident has not been made public.

THE Energy Chamber seeks an urgent, detailed investigation into the death of an employee at NiQuan Energy Trinidad Ltd. The Chamber welcomed the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries forming a team to investigate the incident.

“We urge a detailed, expeditious investigation and timely sharing of its findings. The safety of every employee remains a critical priority for the industry and we hope that the outcome of the investigation will be used to enhance safety policies and practices to avoid such tragedies in the future.”

Massy Energy employee Allan Lane Ramkissoon was injured in a fire at the gas-to-liquids plant at NiQuan which said he died at a specialist burns unit in a Colombian hospital.

This is the second incident at the plant. In April 2021, the plant’s hydrocracker system failed during an attempted startup, which the company described as “a serious equipment failure.”

While the Energy Chamber is calling for transparency in the outcome of the investigation into Ramkissoon’s death, the Prime Minister told Parliament he was unsure whether the report could be made public. The findings of the 2021 investigation by NiQuan cannot be made public either.

“If it can be made public under the specific authorities, then it will be. If it’s a report coming from the company, then of course, we have constraints.

It all depends on what the report is and whose report it is. But once the circumstances and the legal authorities permit, then the relevant minister would make that commitment. I would not presume to make it. These things are guided by commercial controls and legal controls.”

 

 

Amcham

The American Chamber of Commerce of TT (Amcham) hopes the findings of the probe will restore public confidence in the country’s institutions. Amcham welcomes the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries’ investigation into a fire at NiQuan’s gas-to-liquids plant at Point-a-Pierre. Massy Energy Engineered Solutions Ltd employee Allan Lane Ramkissoon died from injuries sustained in the fire.

Amcham said, “If carried out expeditiously and the findings made public when appropriate to so do, this can play a part in reinstalling public trust in our institutions. Therefore, it is vital that the authorities ensure a fully transparent and independent investigation that will provide much-needed answers to relatives and the national community.”

Extending condolences to Ramkissoon’s relatives, Amcham said while the findings could not reduce their pain, it could reduce the likelihood of similar incidents in future. Amcham said part of its core practices is creating safe work spaces for its members and the findings of the report might assist in that endeavour.

 

Energy Ministry probes NiQuan fatality

The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries began investigating the circumstances which led to the death of Allan Lane Ramkissoon at work at NiQuan Energy Trinidad Ltd in Pointe-a-Pierre. Ramkissoon died on June 18 in Colombian where he was being treated at a burns unit, three days after he was injured at NiQuan’s plant. The ministry team investigating this fatal incident comprises a petroleum inspector and three engineers – petroleum, chemical and mechanical It has been mandated to determine the root cause and contributory cause or causes of the tragedy.

The ministry first received a report on June 15 of the incident at NiQuan, where Ramkissoon, a pipe-fitter, suffered severe burns while doing preparatory work for planned maintenance on the plant. The ministry sent its condolences to Ramkissoon’s family and said it trusted all parties involved will cooperate with its team so that the incident can be properly investigated.

NiQuan issued a statement on Ramkissoon’s death after “an accidental flashfire at our Pointe-a-Pierre plant.”

“NiQuan Energy extends heartfelt sympathy to the family, friends and colleagues of Mr Ramkissoon, with the assurance that all appropriate measures are being taken to respond accordingly to the requirements of all parties. An investigation is being conducted into the circumstances of this unfortunate tragedy. All regulatory bodies have been notified.”

 

 

Ramkissoon Family seeks answers from NiQuan

Allan Lane Ramkissoon

Relatives are demanding answers from NiQuan Energy Trinidad Ltd (NETL) as to how of Allan Lane Ramkissoon, 35, perished after a fire on June 15.

His sister said,“We want honesty.. the truth.. to know .. how my brother died. .. who is responsible for this. ..”

The family had little information from either Massy Energy Engineered Solutions Ltd, (MEES) where he worked as a pipe-fitter, or from NiQuan which had contracted MEES to work where the incident occurred.

She does not want this to be another Paria tragedy, where a commission of enquiry would be established to get answers.

Ramkissoon’s wife, Sarah, who accompanied him to Colombia for treatment at a specialised burns unit, was the main source of information. He was taken to Southern Medical Centre where the family was not allowed to see him

“Only his wife and their two children were allowed to see him. My parents were hurt that they did not get to see him alive for the last time. We were told he went to change a pipe and when he detached the first pipe, a co-worker who was with him said they saw fire.”

Her brother who was also on fire, suffered third degree burns to 60 per cent of his body.

“It was a confined space and he was told to jump. He jumped, fell to the ground and started rolling. We heard that approximately an hour later an ambulance came and took him to the medical centre. He left the country Friday night, and he had surgery on Saturday. We were told it was successful, he was doing well but on Sunday morning we got a call telling us that his lungs were gathering fluid, his kidneys were failing and his heart rate was at 60 per cent. She told us to pray for God to turn around the situation.”

Her mother Christine said, “This is so sad and so tragic, I want to know how my son died. I did not get to see him physically for the last time. He was a good son. He took care of me. .. I am really missing him.”

Her husband who sat quietly, said,“This is the worst we have experienced in this family….”

 

 

No cover-up in fatal accident probe as OSHA shuts NiQuan plant

2023 06/21

Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, Stuart Young, responded to media questions at the Ministry of Energy and announced the news that the Occupational Safety and Health Authority (OSHA) served a prohibition order stopping operations of NiQuan Energy , following an incident which led to the death of 35-year-old pipefitter Allanlane Ramkissoon at its Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) plant in Pointe-a-Pierre.

“I am informed, as of today, because I have been in contact with the Minister of Labour (Stephen Mc Clashie), the line minister for OSHA and he has informed me that as of this moment, a prohibition notice has been served on NiQuan.”

Section 74 (1) of the OSH Act gives inspectors the ability to serve prohibition notices on an industrial establishment where there is “risk of bodily injury or damage to the environment.”

If an OSH inspector is of the opinion that the OSH Act has been contravened, or that the contravention will continue or be repeated, he shall, after consultation with the Chief Inspector, serve a prohibition notice “stating that he is of that opinion, giving particulars of the reasons why he is of that opinion.”

The prohibition notice restricts the operations of the industrial establishment “until the existing danger has been removed or the Act complied with,” according to section 74 (1) of the OSH Act.

Young said he assured McClashie that Ministry of Energy teams stand ready with any technical assistance to the OSHA. The Ministry of Energy and the OSHA are conducting investigations into the incident, the second at the NiQuan plant in just over two years.

The prohibition order is the second that the OSHA served on NiQuan GTL plant. The first followed the April 2021 explosion, which rocked Pointe-a-Pierre and surrounding areas. The company reported that the facility suffered a serious equipment failure, resulting in the blowout of its DA-301 system.

Young said one year after the explosion, in April 2022, the Ministry of Energy completed a report on the root-cause analysis of the explosion with observations and recommendations.

“The executive summary of that report was provided to NiQuan in April of last year.”

The Energy Minister will now seek independent, external legal advice on whether the executive summary of the ministry report finalised in March 2022, can be made public.

“With reports, especially when you are dealing with third-party or private entities, if you are going to make adverse findings against them, they need to be notified of these findings and given an opportunity to respond.”

As a result, the ministry will write to NiQuan outlining the intention to make the executive summary of the report public, subject to the legal advice the ministry will receive. That letter will give NiQuan the opportunity to be heard and to respond.

“I want to make it abundantly clear, the Ministry of Energy is concerned and is always concerned when there are incidents. In this incident with regard to NiQuan, we are concerned and we will make sure that there is no cover-up and nothing is swept under the rock.”

Asked for the ministry position if NiQuan refuses the request to make the executive summary public, Young said: “That is why I am seeking the necessary legal advice. The legal advice the ministry is seeking is can we make this executive summary of the report public. I will be guided by that advice.”

Questioned on whether the grounds for making the executive summary public would be based on public interest, Young agreed: “Public interest is definitely the overriding concept.”

The law was developed to ensure that entities against whom adverse findings are made get an opportunity to respond. Told that his comments on adverse findings suggested that the executive summary had adverse findings against NiQuan, Young responded:

“Let’s be real: There was an explosion. There must have been something that goes wrong to cause an explosion. So, yes, there were certain adverse findings as to what was the root cause of the explosion. You can also look at the process that was taken thereafter…”

Following the April 2021 explosion, Young said the next step was that the NiQuan plant followed a process of phased commissioning under the Ministry of Energy and the certified verification agent, an independent, mutually agreed upon third-party that provided “the technical assurance to the Ministry of Energy that the design, construction and commissioning of the GTL facility was adequate and it was fit for purpose. Up to last Thursday ( the incident ), the plant was still in a commissioning phase. The plant had not been given final approval as yet by the Ministry of Energy. They had reached the stage where they were producing product, but not up to their full daily contractual quantities.”

The directors of NiQuan Energy Trinidad Ltd, as at the companies 2022 annual return, stamped on August 15, 2022 are: John Andrews, Alison Lewis, Nicholas Galt, Larry Felix and Ainsley Gill, founder and CEO .

A June 5, 2023 document from NiQuan’s Companies Registry file labelled ‘Return of issuance or transfer of shares’ indicates 1,059,074 shares were issued to RBC Trust T&T with the listed amount of share capital being US$6,354,444. Some 10,697 shares were issued to Firstline Securities Ltd that represented TT$10,697 of share capital.

 

 

NiQuan Energy Ltd’

The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries said it established a four-man team to begin investigations and determine what caused the accident. It asked all parties involved to cooperate with its team.

NiQuan Energy offered condolences to Ramkissoon’s family and assured all appropriate measures were being taken to respond accordingly to the requirements of all investigations.

 

PM uncertain if NiQuan report will be made public

Responding to Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal in Parliament, the Prime Minister is unsure whether the report from the Energy Ministry investigation into the death of a worker injured in a fire at NiQuan Energy Ltd plant can be made public because NiQuan is a private legal entity.

Massy Energy employee Allan Lane Ramkissoon was injured at the company’s gas-to-liquids plant. He suffered burns of 60 per cent and further injuries when he jumped ten feet to escape the flames in the room where he was trapped. He died at a specialist burns unit in Colombia.

In April 2021, there was an explosion at this plant after its hydrocracker system failed during an attempted startup. The company said the incident was “a serious equipment failure. This resulted in the blowout of the DA-301 system, part of the product cleaning process, and caused a fire.”

NiQuan, the Energy Ministry, the Occupational Safety and Health Authority and Agency (OSHA) and the Environmental Management Authority then launched investigations into the blast. Rowley said the findings of NiQuan’s investigation could not be publicised.

Opposition whip David Lee then asked if any of the findings were linked to the incident resulting in Ramkissoon’s death. Rowley reiterated that the Energy Ministry is investigating the “very tragic” matter.

Lee then asked if Ramkissoon’s family would be able to access the report.

Rowley said, “I would await the nature of the report. It all depends on what the report is and whose report it is. But once the circumstances and the legal authorities permit, then the relevant minister would make that commitment. I would not presume to make it. If it can be made public under the specific authorities, then it will be. If it’s a report coming from the company, then of course, we have constraints. These things are guided by commercial controls and legal controls.”

Partners and stakeholders, include:

• the Government of Trinidad and Tobago;
• Emerging Fuels Technology, the Fischer Tropsch Catalyst technology provider;
• Topsoe A/S (formerly Haldor Topsoe), the Hydrocracker Catalyst provider;
• BD Energy Systems, LLC, the Engineer of Record;
• and FarmChem Engineering Management Ltd, our Commissioning Manager.

If NiQuan followed safety protocols why did the accident happen?

2023 06/20

NiQuan is a Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) plant located on the SOC Heritage compound at Pointe-a-Pierre.

Despite two industrial accidents—an explosion and a fatality—in two years, the company says it followed all Health, Safety, Security & Environment (HSSE) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards.

“The company’s safety commitment to all HSSE, OSHA and similar standards is paramount and demonstrable. The relevant regulatory bodies were immediately informed and all statutory requirements complied with. Investigations are being conducted into the circumstances of this unfortunate incident, including a Root Cause Analysis from an external independent expert. Initial inspections revealed that there was minimal damage to the particular section of the plant where the maintenance procedure was being carried out.”

Despite the death of a worker at its plant from fire burns, NiQuan Energy Trinidad Limited (NiQuan) says there “was minimal damage” to that part of their facility.

The company dismissed concerns over similar but smaller incidents at the plant over the past year.

Following the death of Massy Energy Engineered Solutions Ltd (MEES) worker Allan Lane Ramkissoon, Niquan said: “There have been no other small accidents. There has never been and will never be any instance of a “cover-up.” NiQuan has been fully compliant with its statutory obligations to report under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and all applicable laws and regulations.”

On June 15, Ramkissoon, a pipefitter employed at MEES, suffered severe burn injuries while conducting preparatory work for planned maintenance on the plant. He was first taken to West Shore hospital, where he underwent surgery to stabilise his condition before being flown to a burn facility in Colombia. He died two days later, on June 18.

 

 

NiQuan communicated with investors over the incident.

“NiQuan’s investors and stakeholders accept that this unfortunate accident occurred during a routine maintenance procedure being carried out by a contractor and does not affect the commitment of the company to the highest safety standards. The company’s strategic and business plans remain unaffected.”

The company said that the “morale of the NiQuan board, executive management, personnel, and all related parties continues to be high and firm, resulting from a high level of confidence in the safety of the plant, process, equipment, operations and our maintenance contractor, MEES. The company has always had and will continue to have in place the highest international standard safety regimes, practices and procedures. It mandates these same standards from all its external contractors, including Massy Energy Engineered Solutions Limited (MEES).”

The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries (MEEI) received a report of the incident and had set up a team to investigate…

“this serious fatal incident. The team is made up of a group of officers comprising a petroleum engineer, a mechanical engineer, a chemical engineer and a petroleum inspector and they have been mandated to investigate this incident to determine the root cause and contributory cause(s) of this incident. The MEEI trusts that all parties involved will cooperate with its team so that this unfortunate incident can be properly investigated.”

NiQuan was formally opened by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on March 9, 2021. Following the explosion one month later, Niquan had said the plant’s hydrocracker system failed during an attempted start-up.

A preliminary report dated April 14, 2021, and an interim report dated June 1, 2021, were produced. A final report completed following receipt of NiQuan’s questions to the ministry was not made public because of commercial sensitivities. In April 2022, it was given limited approval by the ministry to reintroduce natural gas to its facility and in September 2022, it was granted full approval to resume operations.

NiQuan, a private company on state-owned property, did not disclose the recommendations from the ministry as it moves forward with testing its ability to manufacture its products. In a newspaper advertisement last October, NiQuan claimed that it had achieved…

“commercial readiness status” with “on-specification product and delivery of its products to its storage tanks. This historic milestone positions NiQuan as having the first commercial small-scale GTL plant of its kind in the world and the first operational plant of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.”

It quoted the chief executive Ainsley Gill as saying: “It’s only impossible until it’s achieved. With this level of commercial readiness, there is now a viable, commercial, and competitive alternative to crude oil delivered diesel which advances the decarbonisation and emission-reduction targets under the COP26 Heads of Agreements. This is blue-to green solution. Clean blue natural gas converted to 100 per cent green biodegradable GTL diesel.”

When the plant restarted, National Workers’ Union (NWU) education and research officer Gerry Kangalee expressed concern and called for the ministry report to be made public. Yesterday, he reiterated this call and added the one on Ramkissoon’s death to the list of reports that ought to be made public.

“This is very distressing.”

The ministry should have held a town hall to communicate with residents of Marabella and surrounding communities on why the plant was being re-opened following the blast but no such action was taken.

“They went ahead and opened the plant and this is what happened,.”

He noted that the workers at the plant are not unionised and they are ‘on their own’ with fighting to raise awareness of what was taking place at the plant. He said despite his calls, he doesn’t expect the authorities to respond.

“I don’t believe they will, in terms of how they operate. It’s very sickening how they operate.”

NiQuan is about three years late in getting off the ground. It had originally expected to start production in December 2019. Since the explosion, the company faced several setbacks, including having to delay a proposed US$175 million bond which would have re-financed it for the next decade.

Following the explosion, the Caribbean rating agency, CariCRIS, lowered the assigned NiQuan ratings by 2-notches to CariA- (Foreign and Local Currency Ratings) on the regional rating scale and ttA- on the Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) national scale.

In March 2021,Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley had said that Niquan’s agreement would be with Paria and is expected to earn foreign exchange for the country. The offtake from the plant would be sold to the international market by Paria while the low sulphur diesel will be available to the local and international market.

Niquan is the vision of its founder Ainsley Gill, who bought the incomplete and abandoned Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) plant from Petrotrin (now Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited (TPHL) with four companies -a legacy Petrotrin, Heritage, Paria and Guaracara) for $35 million after it was relegated to scrap iron, another scandalous waste of taxpayer funds.

Documents in the company’s registry show NiQuan is owned by NiQuan Energy, registered in Washington DC (10,702,216 ordinary shares), M&J Services Limited (10,000 ordinary shares), Petrotrin (25,000,000 Class B Preference Shares) and The Beacon Insurance Company (167,000 Class C Preference Shares).
State-owned Petrotrin is thus the largest investor.

 

 

NiQuan did not report fire to TTFS

20230 6/22

Chief Fire Officer Arnold Bristo confirmed that NiQuan Energy Trinidad Ltd (NiQuan) never reported the plant fire to the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service (TTFS) which took the life of Allanlane Ramkissoon. He says it is quite concerning that the TTFS was not apprised by the energy company over what transpired at its Pointe-a-Pierre plant last Thursday.

“It is of concern for the T&T Fire Service, as all fire-related incidents, including death by fire, must be reported to the Fire Services.”

Bristo said the failure of NiQuan to alert the Fire Service when the accident occured makes it harder for them to assist investigations. In any event, , it will mean a little more than just Fire Service involvement.

“That will require the intervention of the state. Investigation after the scene is cleared makes it more difficult.”

The Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, Stuart Young, Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds and (OSHA) did not state they were aware that the TTFS was not informed..

Shadow Minister of Labour and Member of Parliament for Couva South, Rudranath Indarsingh, was not surprised by NiQuan’s actions.

“This further intensifies the call for a thorough investigation by OSHA into this very tragic accident. If the Government is not willing to uphold health and safety in the public and private sectors, then it’s best we abandon the OSH Act,.”.

This latest development further intensifies his suspicion of an attempted cover-up.

“This is why I asked the Prime Minister in the Parliament, taking into consideration section 47 of the OSH Act, whether the accident scene was preserved by health and safety officers and up to today we have not heard that, and while we have heard from Minister Stuart Young that a prohibition notice has been served on NiQuan by OSHA, we have not been told about the state of the accident site.”

Ramkissoon, a pipefitter at Massy Energy Engineered Solutions Limited, suffered 60 per cent burns during an accidental flash fire at the plant on June 15. The 35-year-old, father of two, was flown to a Specialist Burns Unit in Colombia for treatment but died on Sunday.

This was the second major incident that resulted in suspension of . operations at the NiQuan plant.

Following an explosion in April 2021, the plant operations stalled but recommenced on May 28, 2022.

 

 

Hazardous History

In 2018, NiQuan paid Petrotrin US$10 million in cash for the plant, with US$25 million to be paid in preference shares. The first of its kind in the western hemisphere, the plant turns natural gas into high-quality energy products with low emissions.

It began operations in December 2020 and has a capacity of 2,400 barrels of GTL Paraffinic Diesel and GTL Naphtha.

PM Rowley announced the opening of the plant on March 8, 2021 cutting a ribbon with officials. He had said the project was once “plagued by delays and cost overrun” but that it eventually materialised into a victory. Construction initially began in 2007. The plant will aid in post-pandemic recovery.

“…People may ask what is successful about a plant that started construction in 2007 and has only just now been completed in 2021…If the project was written off as a failed attempt, as was the case before this initiative, there was nothing to be had except permanent financial losses, finger-pointing and political grandstanding. Thankfully, there was another option. NiQuan’s investment represents the first major private investment in the downstream energy sector in recent times, despite difficulties in the global markets…This GTL plant is a prime example of the successful development of the country’s export potential of higher value-added products…”

NiQuan led the way out of “what some called a junkyard” by using a good business plan, superb expertise, co-operation and determination. NiQuan’s CEO Ainsley Gill in March 2021 said he hoped the company could open a second plant in TT. NiQuan’s website said Gill is “an energy industry veteran and seasoned entrepreneur with more than 20 years’ experience in international government relations, financing, business development, information technology and management consulting.”

He was thankful he and his team had a positive impact on TT.

“We’re encouraged to be part of the energy matrix… That in TT, we get to transport the cleanest fuels right here in our backyard. Being a son of the soil and being able to do it in Trinidad has its own personal appreciation.”

 

Secrecy, the hallmark of corruption

Minister of Energy Stuart Young said the government was still awaiting initial reports into the circumstances surrounding Ramkissoon’s death. Young told media at the Ministry of Energy he was still gathering information on what led to the accident. The ministry team was getting its first interaction with NiQuan and OSHA visited the site as part of its investigations.

“I don’t want to speculate, especially in an instance such as this. What we do know is some accident .. .. led to the loss of life of one of our citizens and that is something that is very serious.”

After the 2021 explosion, the government issued a report finalised in March 2022. Details are restricted as technical information and trade secrets would leave the company exposed.

Young admitted that the government could not force NiQuan to reveal any reports on the incident to the public and was seeking legal advice on revealing parts of their own investigations into this incident and the July 2021 explosion at the same plant.

“The executive summary sets out all the necessary information for the root cause of the explosion (in 2021), the various observations, the recommendations of what should be done etc.”

The company would have questions to answer coming out of last week’s fatal fire.

“NiQuan is now under a microscope without a doubt. They have questions to answer. We are all waiting to hear the outcome from the experts. I’ve assured the Ministry of Energy’s team that they have the support of the minister and the government to do their job.”

In November 2022, when the government gave approval for reintroduction of natural gas into the facility, Young assured that NiQuan had a facility emergency management plan which would cover both on-site and off-site facilities which included fire services, police, hospital services and EMA and ODPM assistance where necessary. The plans also catered for the impact of any incident on communities close to the plant.

The plant was undergoing a phased re-opening as the company dealt with the findings and recommendations of OSHA and the government who investigated and provided the 2021 report.

 

 

Heritage

Young meets with new Heritage CEO

SHWETA SHARMA 5 HRS AGO

Minister of Energy Stuart Young discussed the strategic plan and the ongoing operations and asset integrity with new CEO of Heritage Petroleum Company Ltd, Erik Keskula at the ministry.

Discussions centred on how Heritage would increase its production through an aggressive drilling and workover programme and its enhanced oil recovery.

Keskula assured Young that with 25 years’ experience in hydrocarbon exploration and production, he was committed to maximising the financial returns of Trinidad and Tobago’s oil reserves.

Chairman Michael Quamina, SC, reiterated the company’s strategic direction of ramping up oil production while continuing to be a sustainable and resilient business in line with Young’s call for regional sustainable energy security.

 

$180,000-plus monthly for incoming CEO

2023 05/25

Erik Keskula will serve as the CEO and will assume full responsibility when Ms. Arlene Chow current CEO retires on June 13th, 2023.

Erik is well qualified holding a Master of Science in Engineering and Technology Management from Oklahoma State University and a Bachelor of Science in Geophysical Engineering/Minor Mathematics from the Colorado School of Mines.

He brings the right mix of operational, technical, commercial and stakeholder management skills to be the new CEO of Heritage Petroleum Company Limited.

Erik held Executive and Senior Management positions with ConocoPhillips across the world; including President Malaysia, Vice President North Slope Operations, North Slope Development Manager, Vice President Subsurface, Exploration Planning & Portfolio Manager and Seismic Technology Manager. Erik sees himself as fortunate to have been involved in growing production and delivering projects throughout all stages of the asset lifecycle including start-ups, mature assets, and joint ventures. With Erik’s impressive and wide-ranging skills and experience, the Board of Directors is confident in his ability to take Heritage forward.

The terms and conditions of the new CEO of Heritage Petroleum Company, Erik Keskula, include a base salary of $180,000 per month plus cash and non-cash benefits.

Prime Minister Keith Rowley gave the information in Parliament with other aspects of the total compensation package offered to the CEO:
• Base salary – $180,000 monthly.
• Relocation allowance- 7 per cent – $12,600 a month;
• Completion bonus of -$180,000 payable at the end of the six-month probation.
• Non cash benefits include value of housing up to US$5,000 a month; a vehicle maintained by Heritage during probation and subsequent to that, vehicle purchase at value up to $700,000; utilities supported by the company; return airfare to their home country at the end for employee and spouse; international medical insurance for employee/spouse and two dependents; international life insurance for the employee and 20 working days annual vacation. An annual bonus arrangement will be discussed with Heritage by Keskula.

Rowley noted that UNC MP Rudy Indarsingh had finally acknowledged that the restructuring of Petrotrin resulted in it going from billions of dollars in losses to Heritage making an after-tax profit of $1.1 billion.

Heritage is dealing with aged inherited infrastructure and it has a programme of assessing that infrastructure “which is aged and some of it even dangerous.”

Heritage recently spent $9 million on an inspection programme. On changeout of certain aspects of the pipeline structure, Heritage is currently spending $15 million annually.

Government is not seeking a buyer for Caribbean Dockyard and Engineering Services Ltd (Caridoc) as the role it can play is very important to diversification in marine technology. Government has appointed a competent qualified group of citizens to form Caridoc’s board.

“They’re currently assessing its needs in the context of the national economy.”

In the interim, Cabinet has authorised the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) to procure an appropriate floating dry dock for the company to service all national marine assets including ferries, Coast Guard vessels and other commercial requirements. After the old dry dock sank in place last year, efforts began to restart the dry docking process in Chaguaramas. Nidco has issued a request for proposals and is awaiting responses.

 

 

Fyzabad oil spill

2023 06/17

Azan Mohammed comforted his wife after they had to evacuate their home following an oil spill at Oil Well Road in Fyzabad.

More than a month after the oil spill from a ruptured pipeline on May 14 , Mohammed and his family were still at the Paria Suites Hotel in Claxton Bay, where Heritage Petroleum pays for their accommodations and meals. Eight other families who were also evacuated to the hotel after the oil spill were allowed to return home.

Heritage Petroleum claimed the Mohammeds had built on the pipeline’s right of way. However, Mohammed refuted this claim, insisting that the pipelines were non-functional under Petrotrin and that his family had occupied that property for over five decades. Mohammed said the company is considering relocating them and have taken him to see properties within the community.

“I don’t know if we will be relocated permanently or not, but once the place is okay, and there is a garage, because I have a garage where I do my work.. my wife could go back now…”

Another major concern is that they have been unable to work to bring in an income.
“We have no money because we are not working.”

While Mohammed had no complaints about his treatment at the hotel, he said they were missing their home.

Heritage Petroleum stated that there was no update on the status of the Mohammed family.

 

 

Penal Oil Slick

2023, 06/16

Oily snakes slither into people’s properties at Katwaroo Trace, as clean-up crews removed oil slicked vegetation from contaminated lagoons, following oil spill.

Wildlife handlers from Serpentarium, based in El Socorro, and game wardens Sheetal Ramsaran and Stephon Ramoutar from the Forestry Division were on site to assist with animal rescues. Dozens of snakes had already been killed by residents, many of them brown-banded water mapepires.

Sheriza Manoo said while the strong hydrocarbon odour had dissipated, snakes are posing a problem.

“Last night one snake dropped from the roof. It was black and my dad had to kill it.”

They killed 15 snakes coming from the oil-infested lagoons as they posed hazards to the family, including children.  A squirrel was also covered in oil. . T&T has 47 species of snakes, and its snake population is one of the most diverse in the region.

Aziz Khan was disheartened to see so many birds covered in oil.  “I normally feed these blue water hens .. and this morning their feathers were stuck up with oil,”

Khan called on the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) to investigate now saying there is an urgent need to safeguard the environment and its robust eco-system.

Aleem Khan, who suffers from a broken leg, said the snakes are posing risks for villagers.  “It not nice to know snakes are coming into the property and I am like this,” he said, pointing to a cast on his foot.

A team from the EMA visited the area and made an assessment.

The oil came from a ruptured line belonging to Heritage Petroleum. Three major oil spills this year were caused by ruptures from old Heritage pipelines:

1. 1. 1. in February in Guayaguayare,
      2. in May at Massahood Junction, Fyzabad, and
      3. the current spill at Katwaroo Trace and Ramkarry Trace, Clarke Road, Penal.

 

 

 

TTMS improving Marine Services

2023 06/09

The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service (TTMS) is taking another step to make the country more disaster-risk resilient. TTMS hosted the “Improving Marine Meteorological and Oceanographic Services in Trinidad and Tobago” workshop, with support from the Caribbean Meteorological Organization and the World Meteorological Organization. With nearly 40,000 people reliant on fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihood.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Utilities Cherryl-Ann Solomon said the ” workshop would bring the Met Office closer to the reality of an organization that can provide weather and climate services that can stand the test of the times. The workshop highlighted the many products TTMS disseminates to stakeholders across the country regarding marine forecasting, early warning, and climate outlooks.”

Communications Officer Camille Graham-Hall, “We are currently in the process of improving our marine and ocean meteorological services capacity. Through this workshop, the Met Service will gain a better understanding of the needs within the maritime communities, which will inform the development of our user-oriented marine meteorological products and services.”

The Caribbean Meteorological Organization’s (CMO) Coordinating Director, Dr Arlene Laing, applauded the Met Office’s efforts to improve their marine forecasts and products while fulfilling the strategic goals CMO and the long-term goals of the World Meteorological Organization.

“This workshop has far-reaching and innovative outcomes that will benefit the local marine and maritime community in managing the risks that are posed by weather and climate extremes and climate change impacts in the sector. More importantly, it will also benefit trade as this sector is a major contributor to the country’s economy.”

, “This workshop is responsive to the country’s needs and the evolving needs of users of marine weather data products and services. It is underpinned by a collaborative and people-centred approach, aiming to deliver fit-for-purpose marine meteorological services that are tailored to your needs.”

 

 

Energy titans transition towards Sustainability

Much has changed since energy giants such as bpTT, NGC, DeNovo and Heritage Petroleum began their journeys toward sustainable energy transition.

Company leaders, David Campbell, president of bpTT, Bryan Ramsumair managing director of DeNovo Energy, Arlene Chow CEO of Heritage Petroleum and Mark Loquan, president of NGC, said in a panel discussion at the first day of the Energy Chamber’s three-day sustainable energy conference, that not only has the world changed but these companies have changed as well.

Campbell said bpTT invested about US$800 million in TT for the year already and over the past four years it has invested almost US$3.5 billion. The company’s change in purpose – helping the world and the company move to net zero by the year 2050, has triggered changes in operations and investments.

“We were making about three per cent of our investments in non-oil and gas. This year it is going to be about 30 per cent,” he said. “In two years’ time it is going to be about 50 per cent. It is a massive change in how we are focusing our investments.”

Ramsumair said DeNovo’s value propositions now have terms and concepts that were non-existent when the company started in 2016.

“The language that we use now is around carbon intensity. We speak about what your GHG emissions look like; we speak about what is the sustainability report, we speak about the managing director of sustainability.”

“Terms and concepts from 2016 to 2023 that were never in the vocabulary before are part of our everyday existence in terms of how we do business. When we speak about a field development one of things we look at is what our GHG score is going to be – how it will add to the carbon intensity of a project.”

For Chow, the path is not so clear as the CEO of Heritage Petroleum. She said as an oil and gas company it has to continue producing oil and gas as the main revenue earner for the country. However the company’s revenues may be what is needed for transition itself.

“The dilemma is how do we do that (transition) because (oil and gas) is essential to even get the money to transition,” she said.

Loquan said one of the answers to the dilemma of transitioning in a way to provide affordable and sustainable energy to the region and the world as a whole, was getting through the early years while looking forward to the distant future.

“In the energy business you are talking about having a view to 2050 or possibly to the end of the century,” he said. “It is understanding how you are going to get through the next few years because we have gas constraints.”

Loquan said a lot of the activity toward transitioning in the short term, is looking at how companies use energy, how they manage power and how they take GHGs out of the environment while pivoting the organisation toward the future.

Chow added that it showed its path to cleaner energy transition through focusing inward and looking at where, as an oil and gas company, it can support the sustainability goals.

“In 2019 when we started we did not have ESG as one of our core sustainability elements. We added that about a year ago,” she said. “We understand our emissions and we have been partnering with NGC to determine how best we can lower our carbon intensity.”

Campbell said bpTT will also balance its approach to energy transition, making equal investment in oil and gas as it will in clean, sustainable energy. He mentioned its investment in solar energy in TT, but pointed out that energy efficient platforms such as the Cassia C plant and production facilities focused on efficiency will also do its part to get more out of the reservoirs that the company already has.

“The world wants to decarbonise, but it also wants a planned and non-chaotic move to transition. That is extremely important,” he said.

 

 

 

Local government reform can drive economy

2023 06/15

Former Planning Minister under the People’s Partnership Government and past principal of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Dr Bhoe Tewarie believes that once local government reform is implemented, T&T can harness its asset base which includes oil, gas, agriculture and minerals for development.

“T&T is a small country with genuine assets and a fair range of resources apart from oil and natural gas and petrochemicals. There are land assets, environmental assets, people at a range of educational levels capable of learning, growing and developing skills, know-how and do-how. Some of these have genuine entrepreneurial talent, creativity and the capacity for innovation in spheres such as agriculture, science, technology, culture, arts, education and community life and development.”

A local government system that functions efficiently will allow leaders and planners to discuss economic problems and solutions.

“If you go into communities and talk to people, they have thoughts, ideas, a point of view on problems and they offer solutions. Local government can be a catalyst in leveraging assets in regions of 100,000 people or so. They can be critical in community planning and economic development. Local government and central government working together for and with the people, can leverage such assets and make human, economic and sustainable development happen.”

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced that local government elections will take place on August 14 and  the main message that the Government will be sending on the election platform is local government reform

“If you’re for that, you should vote PNM. If you don’t agree it’s worthy of your vote and vote UNC, you’re saying you want it to remain as it is. Win, lose or draw our mission is to continue to improve the quality of life in T&T by improving local government delivery,” Rowley told a political meeting at the Malabar Community Centre in June.

Tewarie said he believes the Government can use local government structures to implement the new property tax, but he qualifies that by saying that there must be accountability before that happens.

“Yes, it makes sense for that to happen, but they would need resources to do that well and a system of accountability that works to ensure that money is well spent. If this is used to fund operations i.e. recurrent expenditure, there should be separate funding for development expenditure. If the funds generated from property tax cannot meet recurrent expenditure, that then presents the issue of supplementary funding or administrative restructuring and rationalization for greater effectiveness in delivery of goods and services. New tax revenue should be part of effective allocation and disbursement to effective local government bodies, properly accounted for.”

Tewarie, former Minister of Industry, Enterprise and Tourism in the 1986 to 1991 administration of the National Alliance for Reconstruction, proposed mapping the country can be developed at the local government level.

“There is a Human Development Atlas that addresses the demographics, social and economic condition of citizens in all 14 regions, and identifies resources so that it identifies deficiencies and what needs to be done. Some 100,000 people in a region mean 25,000 homes, about 40 communities (there are about 600 in T&T) a range of businesses, community assets, business opportunities to explore and public and private investments to be made. A country needs macro strategies for growth but also micro strategies.”

He addressed bureaucratic aspects of local government saying that the accountability system to the population is weak which is usually responsible for poor results.

“Fourteen local governments should make the task of each local government delivering goods and services to about 100,000 people easy but it does not work well. There should be a division of labour between local and central government but also collaboration and synergies to serve people well and to make governance good and government delivery effective but it does not happen consistently. Central government ministries and local government corporations often quarrel and the accountability system for governance and to the electorate is weak.”

He stressed the importance of decentralisation as a solution to an unproductive bureaucracy.

“For local government to work well, decentralisation must be real. Devolution of power with accountability must take place, local economic development strategies must be driven, guided and monitored in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning, and local government must be adequately resourced. The National Spatial Development strategy laid in Parliament in 2013, outlines the role of central and local government in the development of land space with sensitivity to the environment.”

He believes that the lack of action on the part of successive governments has led to the current inefficient local government system today.

“We have missed the boat with our handling of both central government and local government. The reason for this is that our politics are too partisan, divisive and antagonistic.
“Central government is too dominant and authoritarian in the governing process and local government has never had the resources, the autonomy, the competence, the power and the wherewithal to do what needs to be done for the communities and people that they represent. The result is pervasive governance failure across the board and citizen dissatisfaction everywhere.”

He concluded that there needs to be a link between the macroeconomic and microeconomic strategies in planning the way forward.

“We need to rethink our approach to development, be more thoughtful in our approach to economic development and much more alert to sustainability issues. And we need to appreciate that both macro and micro-economic strategies are necessary and that collaboration, cooperation and synergy can make a big difference.”

 

 

 

ArcelorMittal plant sold to Trinidad and Tobago Iron Steel Co.

TT Iron Steel Company Limited signed a sales and purchase agreement to acquire the Arcelor Mittal Point Lisas iron and steel plant at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate in Couva. The company announced its acquisition in a release, saying it will begin refurbishing the plant over the next 24 months at a cost of TT$ 1-1.4 billion (US$150-200 million).

“The plant is one of the Western Hemisphere’s largest steel mills pairing low carbon emission, natural gas based direct reduced iron technology with electric arc furnaces for steelmaking,” the release said.

Founder and Group CEO Gus Hiller said there was great potential for the plant to return to the forefront of global steel making.

“We are confident we will be able to bring on stream and operate an efficient, cutting-edge steel mill.”

Production should begin within 12 to 18 months. The refurbishment phase should provide close to 1,000 jobs and when fully operational should create long-term employment for 500 skilled workers.

“TT Iron believes that the restart of the plant will indirectly create many more jobs for instance through maintenance and construction services, port services, downstream manufacturing etc.”

TT Iron said using natural gas in its furnaces will reduce the plant’s carbon intensity to 0.4 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel produced; compared to traditional coal-blast furnaces that emit 2.0 to 2.5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel.

“The plant historically used natural gas however TT Iron intends to transition to green hydrogen in the coming years as it becomes commercially available.”

 

 

New plan for iron and steel

The sale agreement for the Arcelor-Mittal iron and steel plant opens a new chapter in the long and difficult local history of iron-and-steel-making. This plant was a cornerstone of the fledgling Point Lisas Industrial Estate, an early local effort at using the growth in the oil and natural gas industry to diversify into downstream industries. Beginning operations in 1980 as the Iron and Steel Company of TT (ISCOTT), the early promise of cheap raw material inputs and local energy deteriorated. A mix of global market constraints and management issues reduced output. Five US steel companies filed suit against ISCOTT for dumping, accusing the plant of competing unfairly through government subsidy.

ISCOTT never met its goals for export amid declining markets. The country was awash in refined iron and steel, which became a pillar of the construction industry but ISCOTT lost money. By 1983, ISCOTT was losing US$177 million per year.

In 1989, the government leased the plant to India’s ISPAT Group, which ran the company as Caribbean ISPAT, successfully pushing into markets in Latin America, the Middle and Far East and Europe. ISPAT bought the plant outright in 1994 and under the dynamic Lakshmi Mittal, finally achieved the success it was built for. Some of that can be attributed to the very agreeable US$70 million price that ISPAT paid for the mill, concessions from the government and rising prices for its output. From continuous losses, the company achieved profitability within a year.

In 2006, Mittal Steel merged with Arcelor to become ArcelorMittal and the company continued production until 2016. Increases in utility payments, taxes and port fees and the burden of a US$281 million loss in 2015, led to abrupt closure of the plant , leaving 644 steelworkers in the lurch.

The plant has been shuttered since then. Bids for the plant led nowhere until TT Iron announced that it had signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the plant.

The company announced an aggressive plan to refurbish the plant over the next two years with a budget of over TT$1 billion to fire up the plant’s signature direct reduced iron and electric arc furnace technologies that were designed to be a good fit for cheap electricity and natural gas resources.

Iron and steel production is prone to precipitous change. Price volatility drove the sale of the business and then the mothballing of the plant but a successful iron and steel plant is good for the economy and the revitalisation of the plant is welcome news for the heavy industry sector.

 

 

TT Iron Steel acquires ArcelorMittal steel plant

2023 06/08

After seven years in limbo, the iron and steel plant in Point Lisas is expected to resume opera/tions next year after TT Iron Steel Company Ltd confirmed it signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the facility. with Christopher Kelshall, liquidator of ArcelorMittal Point Lisas Ltd. (In Liquidation). Completion of the transaction is subject to approval by the Government . This is a private transaction, bound by confidentiality agreements.

Last year, the planned purchase of the plant by TT Iron was reported with the company hoping to start production of billets and coils through the melt shop. Initial refurbishment and restart is expected to cost US$150 to 200 million (between TT$1 billion and TT$1.4 billion) over the next two years with further investment required thereafter.
The company stated its intention for the plant to use renewable energy going forward.

“The plant historically used natural gas however TT Iron intends to transition to green hydrogen in the coming years as it becomes commercially available. This will reduce the plant’s carbon intensity to 0.4 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel produced. Restarting the iron and steel plant and then transitioning to green hydrogen will put Trinidad and Tobago back on the map as a world leader on the cutting edge of low emission steel production technology.”

Refurbishment is expected to create 1,000 jobs and provide long-term employment opportunities for 500 people.

Some 644 people became unemployed in March 2016, when ArcelorMittal opted to shut down operations following a dispute over the natural gas supply required .

TT Iron founder, president and CEO Gus Hiller said: “We believe there is great potential for the plant to return to the forefront of global steelmaking technology and performance. Our team was drawn to Trinidad and Tobago due to its strategic location, skilled workforce, potential to be a hydrogen leader and an enabling business environment. We are confident we will be able to bring on stream and operate an efficient, cutting-edge steel mill which we expect and hope will start production within the next 12 to 18 months; certainly, no later than December 2024.”

Hiller is a veteran of the steel industry and spent six years of his career on the Point Lisas estate at the helm of Nucor. He has managed and operated steel plants across US and Canada.

Chairman of TT Iron Joel “Monty” Pemberton said: “The restart of the local steel industry continues the vision of the pioneers who conceived it, and we are enhancing this vision with the full use of green hydrogen in the shortest possible time frame; this is the fuel of the future. TT Iron is passionate about the development of the downstream manufacturing sector of higher value iron and steel products in Trinidad & Tobago, this will further increase employment and wealth creation in the country. Our ESG principles are anchored in producing lower carbon products, the promotion of entrepreneurial activity in T&T through the development of the downstream manufacturing sector, establishing an apprenticeship programme for youth development, thereby creating sustainable employment for generations in the clean energy industry.”

Christopher Kelshall said he was pleased that TT Iron operations included plans for the development.

“Especially with the future use of green hydrogen. The investment by experienced industry veterans, will see Trinidad & Tobago continue to be a credible player in the global steel industry. Further, this investment represents a significant step to continue to diversify the downstream energy industry in Trinidad and Tobago.”.

 

 

 

‘Outdated’ data on finance ministry website

Marla Dukharan says it is unfair for Finance Minister Colm Imbert to criticise journalists for using the most recent data on the performance of the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF) provided by his ministry. Its 2022 annual report, laid in Parliament in February but published on the Finance Ministry website last week, revealed that the HSF recorded its first-ever annual loss at a total of US$913,456,918, for the financial year ending in September 2022

Imbert and the Prime Minister, refuted recent news highlighting this, saying the media was deliberately spreading misinformation and using old data. Imbert then updated the country on the fund’s current net asset value, which was US$5.5 billion.

“This is an increase of US$754 million in the actual value of the fund over the last nine months since September 2022.”

Economist Dukharan said while the 2022 annual report may have outdated numbers and information, it had only just been published on the ministry’s website.

“And indeed, on June 7, three reports on the HSF were released on the ministry’s website – the reports for Q3 2022, Q4 2022, and the annual report. This means that the public is seeing these reports about six to nine months in arrears. Prior to June 7, the last time a report was released was for Q1 and Q2 2022, and these were released in November 2022. So for six months we saw no updates. That the ministry or minister would berate the media for using ‘outdated’ information, which is in fact the latest information provided by said ministry/minister, is unfair and unbecoming at best.

On the loss, Dukharan said it was “quite interesting since the benchmark used to measure the fund’s performance against, also saw negative returns of 15.49 per cent…”

This suggests that the fund’s performance was not unusual. However, the fund was not invested according to the approved strategic asset allocation.

“This shows that the fund is not being operated and managed in accordance with the approved strategy and this could have contributed to the extent of losses seen.

“Sixty-five per cent of the fund was supposed to be invested in fixed income and 35 per cent in equity. However, in December 2021, only 49 per cent of the fund was invested in fixed income. This means that about 15 per cent of the fund was mis-allocated to equity at that time.”

Even if the returns on the fund were positive, there should not be material, longstanding deviation from the approved strategic asset allocation. Such deviation speaks to possible mismanagement and weak governance. If the approved (allocation) is somehow no longer appropriate, then the managers of the fund and the governance structure should have used the proper process to change it. Markets will gyrate and volatility is the new normal, hence the logic behind an approved strategic asset allocation, because the managers of the fund have decided on an investment strategy that they believe will meet the desired outcome of the fund. That there was such significant deviation from the investment strategy demonstrates that there is some breakdown in management and governance of the fund”

 

 

 

HSF value same as that in 2015

2023 06/12

Finance Minister Colm Imbert told media the value of Heritage and Stabilization Fund is the same as when government inherited it in 2015, claiming a media report suggesting that the fund had incurred a loss of over $US900m in 2022 lacked proper analysis and context. Currently, the net value of the fund is an estimated $US5.5bn, an increase of 16 per cent.

Geopolitical volatility and rising inflation impacted global markets last year and the loss incurred was not unique to Trinidad and Tobago.   Despite withdrawals totaling $US1.9bn over the last eight years, the fund managed to generate $TT12bn since 2015.

 

 

HSF rose to US$5.139B in December

2023 06/11

The net asset value of the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF) totaled US$5.139 billion, as at December 31, 2022, which was a 9.06 per cent increase for the Fund’s first quarter.  The NAV of the HSF ended its 2022 financial year on September 30, at US$4.712 billion, adding US$427.3 million between October 1 and December 31, 2022.

According to the executive summary for the Fund’s first quarter, the Government contributed US$182.2 million to the Fund on December 23, 2022.  Recovery in the first quarter of its 2023 financial year, followed a US$751 million decline in its NAV in its 2022 financial year.

As at September 30, 2022, the NAV stood at US$4.712 billion, down from US$5.463 billion as at September 30, 2021. That decline of US$751 million in the NAV of the Fund was its ever first annual loss.

In the foreword of the 2022 annual report, HSF chairman, Ewart Williams, said the board of the Fund decided to rebalance the Strategic Asset Allocation in August 2022, “in order to improve the Fund’s performance or, at minimum, preserve its capital through a period of high market uncertainty.”

Rebalancing involved US$250 million, reducing the Fund’s allocation to risky equity investments in favour of safer, more liquid positions in its fixed-income mandates.

The HSF was established with a Strategic Asset Allocation comprising: 25 per cent US short-duration fixed income; 40 per cent US core domestic fixed income; 17.50 per cent US core domestic equity and 17.50 per cent non-US core international equity.

As at the end of December 2022, 21.77 per cent of the Fund was held in US short-duration fixed income, 31.38 per cent in US core domestic fixed income, 21.48 per cent in US core domestic equity and 18.62 per cent in non-US core international equity. Some 6.75 per cent of the HSF was held in US dollar fixed deposits as at December 2022

 

 

Rambarran laments US$913.5m loss

Ex-Central Bank governor Jwala Rambarran says the loss of US$913.5 million incurred by the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF) in 2022 should disturb us all, as a “grave fiscal irresponsibility.”

In its annual report , the HSF revealed that it recorded its first-ever loss of US$913,456,918.

From that total, US$908,481,002 was a result of loss from investments.

Rambarran, who served as the board’s director in 2012, said the revelation reminded him of the Urdu word, barrakat, the ability to earn wealth and keep it .

The loss reminded him “that the old idea of barrakat still has relevance today as the Rowley PNM government continues to show their hands have not been blessed to create wealth.”

The government waited nine months to disclose this loss which is equivalent to almost 20 per cent of the HSF balance at the end of September 2022.

“Think about that for a moment. It took about five years for our HSF, in its previous informal incarnation as the interim revenue and stabilisation fund, to build up a balance of over US$900 million.

“The Rowley PNM government has lost this amount from the HSF in just one year…Talk about having no barrakat.”

Citizens are the rightful owners of the HSF are citizens and it is not a “trophy backup line of credit for the Minister of Finance to do as he pleases. The HSF is a national heritage fund created from excess energy revenue for the people of TT. The HSF belongs to you, your children and your children’s children. We, therefore, must have an interest in how much money is placed in the HSF, how much money is withdrawn from the Fund and for what purpose, how its resources are invested and, most importantly, what is the investment performance of the fund.”

In the report, HSF chairman Williams said over the past three years, the HSF “confronted a series of challenges that have tested its resilience and threatened its sustainability.”

These challenges include the pandemic and the Ukraine war, among other things.

Rambarran said “Nothing could be further from the truth,” and events in the global financial markets “have simply revealed the incompetence of the HSF board. In this turbulent environment, the HSF Board must be adept enough to shield the fund from the worst effects of the financial risks associated with such events. This requires a proactive approach, constant monitoring of the markets, mature reflection and deliberate judgement to act. This historic, large, first loss of the HSF shows an egregious breach of fiduciary duty on the part of the current HSF board members. By law, these board members have a fiduciary responsibility to the owners of the HSF, the people of TT.”

In any other country, the current HSF board members would have resigned, but that integrity does not seem to live in TT.

“Surely, the Rowley PNM government should not expect us to go lightly on them for such grave fiscal irresponsibility. They were voted into office twice, giving the electorate the assurance they had all the answers to run the country and make it better. However, as barrakat slips more and more out of the Rowley PNM government’s hands, their legacy will not be one of development but a decade of decay.”

In October 2022, Rambarran was awarded $5.4 million in compensatory damages for wrongful dismissal. He was fired as Central Bank governor on December 23, 2015, after his appointment was revoked by then-acting president Christine Kangaloo on the advice of the Cabinet. He was removed for being “discourteous” to the Government by making public details of foreign exchange.

Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal noted the loss was not surprising.

“The UNC and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar warned the county that Rowley and the PNM had gotten their claws on the HSF and were determined to raid the fund as daylight bandits.”

In a morbid way the covid19 pandemic was like a boon to the government as it “gave them an excuse to raid the HSF. The citizens cannot find anything to show where this over $6 billion went. Many are without social support and countless businesses closed as a result of absolutely no help from the government during the covid19 period. We got a significant amount of vaccines free so clearly $6 billion did not go for vaccines. The question is where did the money go?”

Moonilal demanded a commission of enquiry into the management of the pandemic and the “plunder of the HSF. Mrs Persad-Bissessar has promised this investigation very early into the life of the incoming UNC administration. The answers to these questions above on this first historic and exorbitant loss might be more shocking.”

Continuing the repulsive rhetoric of a rotten regime, the Prime Minister told media they “need a new source of information.”

 

 

 

Inflation down to 6%

The Central Bank in its latest Monetary Policy Report May 2023 noted that retail price pressures continued to decelerate with inflation in April recorded at six per cent (year-on-year) after peaking at 8.7 per cent in December 2022. Food inflation slowed over February, March and April 2023 as bread and cereals, vegetable and fruit prices eased. Similarly, core inflation decelerated to 4.8 per cent.

Domestic price pressures are anticipated to ease in the short-run. Core inflation, nonetheless, may be affected by the path of wage settlements, a gradual recovery of consumer demand and possible implementation of higher utility rates. Food inflation is expected to be tempered by the decline in international food costs but adverse weather could lead to periodic spikes in domestic agricultural produce prices.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the domestic energy sector recorded an increase in output while the non-energy sector displayed some sluggishness.

According to indicators monitored by the bank, declines were observed across key sectors.

The construction sector recorded a sizeable reduction of 23.8 per cent, premised on significant falloffs in local sales of cement and production of mined aggregates. Manufacturing (excluding refining and petrochemicals) recorded a decline of 0.6 per cent, while the electricity and water, agriculture and financial and insurance sectors recorded a falloff in activity.

Notwithstanding the slowdown in overall activity, expansions were recorded in transportation and storage, real estate and wholesale and retail trade sectors.

Labour market conditions improved as the unemployment rate fell to 4.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022 while labour force participation rose.

In the first quarter of 2023, overall energy production remained fairly steady. Activity in the sector was affected by declines in the production of both crude oil (6.0 per cent) and natural gas at (0.4 per cent). Activity in the refining sector was affected as an improvement in the production of LNG was outweighed by a falloff in the production of natural gas liquids (NGLs). Output in the petrochemicals sector waned over the period, driven by declines in the production of ammonia (8.2 per cent) and urea (32.2 per cent). Methanol production improved (5.6 per cent) over the period.

The bank kept the repo rate steady at 3.50 per cent while adjusting its open market operations to deal more flexibly with changing liquidity conditions. In calibrating its stance, the bank took account of the potential global financial stability risks while considering the impact of unanticipated external impulses and second-round effects on domestic inflation. Central Bank utilises the repo rate to signal to the banking system the direction in which it wishes short-term interest rates, and ultimately, the structure of interest rates, to move. Open market operations involve the purchase and sale of government securities by the bank to impact the level of liquidity in the domestic financial system.

According to the bank’s monetary policy outlook, domestic economic activity is expected to improve and be fairly broad-based. Several new projects should help the energy sector, while an uptick in business and consumer demand bodes well for non-energy activity and could offer more job opportunities. The strengthening of the domestic recovery will take place alongside a much more competitive global environment that requires all economies and businesses to significantly improve their efficiency.

Macroeconomic policy coordination – on the fiscal, monetary and structural fronts – will remain essential in providing a stable supportive setting. Monetary policy will need to remain agile and responsive to the evolving data on international and local developments.

 

 

Labidco trees of life

The La Brea Industrial Development Company Ltd (Labidco) launched its “Plant for a Purpose” initiative with the planting of 181 trees over a 4,000 square metre plot on the La Brea Industrial Estate. The initiative would play an important role in offsetting greenhouse gasses and promoting ecological diversity.

“The trees planted included mango, guava, cashew, coconut, and tamarind. They were selected for their ability to thrive in relatively poor soil conditions and are expected to sequester approximately two tonnes of carbon when matured.”

Labidco chairman Joseph Khan said, by launching the project, the company was demonstrating that sustainability and industrial development can coexist.

“Having identified three hectares unsuitable for industrial activity, the company has chosen to utilise this land for an impactful purpose. Through this project we hope to do more than just sequester carbon. We aspire to create a circular economy where resources are used efficiently, waste is minimised and economic growth is decoupled from environmental degradation.”

The initiative was part of a larger strategy involving several sustainability projects including the GHG emissions report at the port of Brighton, a significant step in understanding the emission levels there .

“Through these initiatives, Labidco hopes to lead by example, creating a blueprint for other industries to follow. We are setting the tone, we want to be examples and we want to be at the forefront of these initiatives.”

ECO applauds cultivation of iconic trees which can include nutrient-rich cherry, cerise, pomerac, portugal, sapodilla and soursop before they are lost, to promote healthy diets. Valuable food trees include Moringa/saijan, a source of oil and chataigne/chestnut, rich in minerals and fibre. Large trees can replace tobacco and marijuana to prevent disease, pollution and addiction blighting lifestyles while conserving water, providing shade and timber and sequestering carbon to reduce GHG.

 

 

Appeal Court reserves on gas station licence challenge

Three Appeal Court judges reserved their decision on two separate, but consolidated, appeals by the National Petroleum Marketing Company Ltd (NP) and the Ministry of Energy of a judge’s ruling involving the granting of a retail marketing licence for a gas station in Diego Martin.

Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Vasheist Kokaram and Malcolm Holdip said they would require time to rule on the submissions by NP, the ministry as well as the Petroleum Dealers Association (PDA), which brought the original judicial review challenge in December 2017.

No specific date was given for delivery of the decision. In May 2022, Justice Avason Quinlan-Williams ruled on the PDA’s claim which challenged a decision by former energy minister Franklin Khan to grant a retail marketing licence for a gas station in Diego Martin to NP. Quinlan-Williams ruled that Khan’s decision to grant the licence to NP in 2017 was illegal and therefore void. The PDA claimed that Khan was not permitted to grant the licence as he knew that NP did not intend to operate the station itself, as it was to be leased to an operator. The judge held that delegation by the holder of a retail marketing licence was unlawful.

“NP has no authority to assign, ascribe, build a business model, or make a strategic business decision that would permit them and third parties to evade the requirements, obligations and responsibilities of the Petroleum Act and specifically the requirement to retail with retail marketing licence.”

NP and the ministry’s main complaint is that the judge’s declarations brought into question the legitimacy of the terms and conditions of contractual arrangements of gas stations operated by dealers.

Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes, for the ministry, and Russell Martineau, SC, for NP, said the declarations granted by the judge were not sought by the PDA in its original lawsuit. Mendes took the judges through the licensing regime and provisions of the Petroleum Act while Martineau also referred them to NP’s five business models. Mendes criticised the declarations and findings of the judge on the unlawfulness of the licence. He also urged the judges not to entertain submissions by the PDA’s lead attorney, Fyard Hosein, SC, on the declarations his client was now seeking. He said the PDA should have filed a cross-appeal if wanted different declarations.

“We are here to challenge the declarations of the judge.” Martineau agreed, saying new declarations would require bringing additional evidence.

Both attorneys said the challenge before the High Court was the minister’s conduct but the judge’s declarations went beyond that. Hosein admitted that while Quinlan-Williams did not grant the PDA the declarations it sought, the Appeal Court could fashion its own to clarify the position. He chastised the ministry for filing its appeal, since, he said, “the fact remains the minister did not follow the act.”

He also said the energy minister was a regulator and had to ensure the operation involving the retail of petroleum was in compliance with the law and not only grant a licence.

“As a regulator, he has to monitor and enforce.” Of NP, Hosein said the company wanted its cake and to eat it too since it should not be allowed to claim a petroleum subsidy.

“This case is about retail marketing licences. Our allegation is that NP transferred and assigned its functions to a third party and kept the retail licence.”

He also raised the issue of the franchise agreement and accused the minister and NP of trying to “defend the indefensible.”

In June, last year, NP had asked for a suspension of the judge’s orders which was granted. In its application, NP warned the immediate and practical effects of Quinlan-Williams’s declarations are that operations at the Diego Martin station and 66 others, which operate under a similar business model, were rendered illegal. It warned that the judge’s declarations would have severe consequences on its business operations and “will affect the travelling public” and compromise TT’s fuel security.

The temporary suspension was granted pending the hearing and determination of the substantive appeal.

© 2020 – 2021 Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.

 

 

$45-$90/month for gratuitous property tax

 

Speaking in the Senate on the Valuation of Land (Amendment) Bill 2023 which facilitates the enactment of the superfluous property tax, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said lower valued properties would incur a property tax of just $540 per year, while most middle-class home-owners would pay between $1,800 to $2,700 annually. Ignoring insecurity, homelessness, unemployment and an astronomical cost of living, he reckoned that in a recent 14 year period $1.4 billion had been lost in unpaid land tax, in the petrostate with a history of 200 years of various types of land tax,

His ministry’s Valuation Division claimed 234,573 had registered their residential property, up from about 225,000 previously. This meant the property tax could be enacted as over 50 per cent of the country’s 400,000 residential properties were registered (out of 600,000 total properties in all – residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural.) Imbert listed the range of property tax charges which each corresponded to a given valuation of three per cent of a residential property’s rental value.

“In terms of the lowest possible value that would be placed on a house (worth) $18,000 or less, so far there are valued 36,103 properties.”

Three per cent of that rental value of $18,000 was $540 per year or $45 per month. That valuation applied to about 15 per cent of the properties valued so far. 60,895 properties were valued at an annual rental value of $18,000-$36,000 or $1,500-$3,000 a month. 96,988 residential properties had rental values of $18,000-$36,000, out of 234,000 properties in all.

“And the tax on the properties which have a rental value of $36,000 a year will be $1,080 per year or $90 per month. Over half of residential properties would ultimately be valued at a rate of a property tax payment of $540-$1,080 per year.

“There are a number of properties at the lower level that have not yet been valued and these proportions may change and more than 50 per cent of properties may fall in this range of property tax of somewhere between $540 a year and $1,080 a year, so $45 a month or $90 a month.”

Imbert recently explained to a businessman that his property would not incur a tax of $15,000 per year.

The tax was calculated as three per cent of the discounted rental value minus ten per cent. Properties with rental values in a band of $36,00-$60,000 annually or $3,000-$5,000 per month would attract a property tax of $1,800 per year or $150 per month. Over 65 per cent – two thirds of properties in TT – will attract a tax of between $540 a year and $1,080 a year – $45 a month and $150 a month.

He was fed up of misinformation over property tax rates.

“If you go to another band – $5,000 a month to $7,500 – that is $60,00 a year in annual rental value and $90,00 a year – in that band there are 33,549 properties valued so far.” The next highest band, above $7,000 monthly rental value has 52,975 properties valued so far.

Some 22 per cent of properties are valued at above $7,500 per month and almost 80 per cent below that, in monthly rental value. A $7,500 monthly rental value will attract a property tax of $2,700 per year.

“The vast majority of the middle class will be captured between $5,000 a month range and $7,500 a month range. “So you are looking at taxes between $1,800 and $2,700 for a middle class home owner and taxes of $500 and $1,000 a year for people at the lower end.”

Replying to Independent Senator Anthony Vieira, he said the tax will be applied only for 2023. Earlier, Independent Senator Charrise Seepersad suggested delaying the property tax until the valuation roll had reached to a 75 per cent rate of registration rather than the existing level of 50 per cent.

After prodigal loss of HSF income, alarming autocrats pursue profligacy with an impoverishment. tax

 

 

Economists question growth sustainability

2023  06/01

UWI Economics don, Dr Regan Deonanan concludes that lifting pandemic restrictions of 2022 led to an increase in economic activity with a rebound in some sectors although this resurgence was weaker than pre-pandemic performance. On May 20, Finance Minister Colm Imbert revealed that T&T’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was 30 per cent higher in 2023 than in 2020.

Using Central Statistical Office (CSO) data, Deonanan gave an analysis of the conditions that could have possibly led to such favourable expansion.

“Along with the lifting of pandemic restrictions in 2022, there has been a concurrent rise in economic activity as some of the major industries rebounded. GDP from the trade, manufacturing, and mining industries, for the first three quarters of 2022, grew by 3.1 per cent, 4.5 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively, when compared with the first three quarters of 2021. This may be driven by the non-energy sector as non-energy GDP increased by 4.7 per cent over the same period, while energy GDP declined by 0.8 per cent.”

Economists generally say that GDP per capita measures the economic output of a nation per person.

It seeks to determine the prosperity of a nation by economic growth per person in that nation. Deonanan said real GDP per capita growth is a measure of the increase in a country’s level of production that accounts for inflation and population size and it is, therefore, among the most useful and reliable measures of economic progress.

Imbert also compared GDP to other Caricom countries which show T&T is on par with Barbados and ahead of Jamaica.

“T&T’s GDP per capita in 2023 is US$21,000, Jamaica’s is US$6,200 and Barbados’ is US$21,000. In 2020, our GDP per capita was US$16,100, Jamaica’s was US$5,100 and Barbados’ was US$16,600. Our GDP per capita increased by 30 per cent from 2020 to 2022, Jamaica by 21 per cent and Barbados by 26 per cent.”

Although the Finance Ministry showed an expansion of GDP per capita between 2020 and 2023, the data shows a decline. over the almost 10-year period from 2012 to 2021. GDP per capita in 2012 was $130,604 and by 2021 it fell to $109,392 according to the CSO data..

“Based on publicly available data for real GDP and population from the Central Statistical Office of T&T, real GDP per capita growth was 3.4 per cent in 2013, 3.0 per cent in 2014 and the annual figures have been negative since then till 2021 (real GDP growth for 2019 is recorded as +0.1 per cent, while real GDP per capita growth is -0.2 per cent). “For the period 2013 to 2019, before the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, per capita growth averaged -1.1 per cent annually. Real GDP per capita in 2019 was 8.1 per cent lower than it was in 2012. During the pandemic period, real GDP per capita declined by 7.9 per cent and 1.1 per cent in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Real GDP per capita in 2021 was 8.9 per cent lower than it was in 2019 and 16.2 per cent lower than it was in 2012.”

Successive Governments have discussed increasing the GDP per capita and raising living standards for years.   Almost 10 years ago in 2014, then People’s Partnership Planning Minister Bhoe Tewarie commented on what GDP per capita would be like in the future.

“In 1967, Singapore was worse than T&T in GDP per capita and in terms of general living conditions. We must create our own dream. We can be a country with a per capita income of US$40,000 instead of US$20,000 in less than ten years. We can have a GDP of $360 billion instead of $179 billion in less than ten years. We can have a financial sector that is a bridge between monies in the southern hemisphere and monies in the eastern part of the world.”

While Deonanan acknowledged the economic growth seen in the most recent available data may reflect the rebounding of sectors that declined during the pandemic, as well as an uptick in the non-energy sector, this does not reflect an improvement in real GDP when compared to the pre-pandemic period.

“Total real GDP for the first three quarters of 2022 is approximately $109 billion. While this is a 3 per cent increase compared to the first three quarters of 2021, it is still 7.2 per cent lower than the GDP for the first three quarters of 2019. The figures for the annual real GDP for 2022 are not yet released. The IMF, however, in its recent 2023 Article IV Consultation for T&T, estimated real GDP growth to be 2.5 per cent for 2022 (Source: T&T: 2023 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report). This puts real GDP at approximately $153.3 billion for 2022, and real GDP per capita at $112,270.”

The pandemic had an adverse effect on the economy with major industries affected.

“GDP from the trade, manufacturing, and mining industries all declined by 11 per cent in 2020. Together, these industries contribute to approximately 56 per cent of GDP. This may have been driven by developments in the energy sector which declined by 12 per cent in 2020, while non-energy GDP declined by 5.5 per cent. In 2021, energy GDP declined by a further 2.7 per cent while non-energy GDP declined by 0.3 per cent.”

Former Central Bank Governor, Winston Dookeran, who served as a Finance Minister for part of the 2010 to 2015 PP administration, attributes this expansion in the GDP per capita to the recent commodity price increases.

“The minister may attribute any increases to commodity price increases due to supply changes coming out of the Ukraine/Russia war and its impact on global energy prices and fluctuations. Locally, he may attribute it to ‘some incipient growth in the non-energy sector’ but it is not clear if this is sustainable, given the competitiveness of the economy. The minister can underline these positive developments as being promoted by macro-economic stability of the country’s balance sheets—fiscal and balance of payment.”

When asked if different sectors like the business sector and even ordinary people are experiencing this increase in wealth, he replied that there needs to be a change to the “institutional structure.”

“Two areas of shortcomings are the prospects of endogenous growth in the economy–growth strategy from within, and income distribution trends–meaning the impact on the vulnerable sector. Here, there is little effort to change the institutional structure, which sustains income and poverty changes to the low-income groups and the lagging sectors of the economy. Pension and cost of living buffers are facing actuarial challenges, so the sustainability of the growth effort is at risk.”

The economy must be managed in a way that inequalities in society are addressed.

“The policy framework for balance sheet stability is reaping rewards, but fiscal management must have economy-wide effects to deal with development and disparity of income and poverty issues and endogenous growth. The record card is the right direction; however, major institutional change may provide a stimulus for equitable development.”

 

 

Unaudited billions of TTD from revenue

2023 06/01

$36.52 billion in revenue collected by the Inland Revenue Division, also called the Board of Inland Revenue ( BIR) in the 2022 fiscal year was not being audited in an 11-year dispute between the Auditor General’s Department and its premier tax collection agency.

This Auditor General’s 2022 report on the public accounts discloses that the $36.52 billion collected by the BIR is 62.2 per cent of the $58.71 billion that was the total revenue generated in T&T in the 2022 fiscal year.

The 2022 report of the Auditor General’s Department also discloses that the consolidated statement of arrears of revenue owed to the Government, but not collected in the 2022 fiscal year, amounted to $48.92 billion. Of that amount, oil companies had $18.39 billion in arrears, other companies $12.34 billion and individuals $1.61 billion.

The dispute between the Auditor General’s Department and the BIR arose because the 1976 Republic Constitution, at section 116 (2), states that the Department “shall have access to all books, records, returns and other documents” relating to the public accounts of T&T and of all officers, Courts and authorities in the country.

The Exchequer and Audit Act, at section 10, expands the Auditor General’s right of access to include explanations and information as well as access to all State property.

Section 10 (2) states: “In the exercise of his duties under this Act the Auditor General, or any person duly authorised by him in writing, shall have access to all records, books, vouchers, documents, cash, stamps, securities, stores or other State property in the possession of any officer.”

While the Auditor General’s Department has a mandate to access taxpayers’ information collected by the BIR, the Income Tax Act, at section 4, requires every person employed by the BIR to treat as “secret and confidential,” all documents, information, returns, assessment lists, and copies of such lists relating to the income or items of the income of any person.

Section 4 (2) of the Income Tax Act makes it an offence for any BIR employee with taxpayers’ information to communicate or attempt to communicate such information “other than a person to whom he is authorised by the President to communicate it.”

Asked if a simple resolution to the dispute would be for the President to authorise the BIR to communicate taxpayers’ information to the Auditor General’s Department, current Auditor General, Lorelly Pujadas, responded: “Please refer to Act No. 18 of 2018.”

Act No. 18 of 2018 is the Income Tax (Amendment) Act. The Act mandates BIR employees to provide taxpayer information to:

• The Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit “solely for the purpose of enabling the FIU to do its analysis under the Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and Tobago Act;
• A police office of the rank of Superintendent or above responsible for financial investigations or fraud, “where such information is required for the purpose of investigating whether an offence—(i) under the Proceeds of Crime Act; (ii) under the Anti -Terrorism Act; (iii) under the Prevention of Corruption Act; or (iv) involving fraud or dishonesty,

The Act does not expand the recipients of taxpayers’ information to include the Auditor General’s Department.

The 2022 Auditor General’s Report states: “To this end, the interpretation and application by the Board of Inland Revenue of the secrecy provisions of section 4 of the Income Tax Act have continued to pose a challenge to the audit of revenue at the Inland Revenue Division.”

According to the Report, following the recommendation of a Public Accounts Committee in the first quarter of 2017, the chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue and the then Auditor General met on several occasions during the financial years 2017 and 2018 under the auspices of the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs.

The Report states that the Auditor General submitted proposals for the consideration of the Attorney General, but those proposals were not accepted by the Inland Revenue Division.

“Due to the inability of the parties involved to come to a consensus, the Auditor General in 2019 and 2020 requested the Attorney General to file an interpretation summons for the interpretation of section 4 of the Income Tax Act,” according to the 2022 Report of the Auditor General.

T&T’s Attorney General from September 2015 to March 2022 was Faris al-Rawi, the current Minister of Local Government and Rural Development. It is unclear from the Report whether al-Rawi accommodated the requests from the Auditor General in 2019 and 2020.

Reginald Armour, SC, was appointed Attorney General on March 16, 2022.
“Subsequently, on March 22, 2022, the Auditor General wrote to the Attorney General detailing the history of the ten-year-old unresolved legal matter. The Attorney General’s assistance was requested in the form of an interpretation summons or any other action the Attorney General may see that can lead to the Auditor General fulfilling his Constitutional mandate.

“On April 11, 2023 the Attorney General confirmed his Office would make an application to the Supreme Court for an interpretation of the secrecy provisions of section 4 of the Income Tax Act, Chapter 75:01. However, at the time of this report the secrecy provisions remain as a limitation,” Pujadas wrote, in the 2022 Auditor General’s Report. On the website of the Auditor General’s Department, the 2022 Report is dated May 4, 2023.

Questioned on whether his Office had made the application to the Court for the interpretation of section 4 of the Income Tax Act, and why it took nearly 13 months to respond to the Auditor General’s March 22, 2022 letter, Armour responded:

“Consistent with the commitment that I made in April 2023 to the Auditor General, as she reports, my Office has briefed Senior Counsel to take conduct of this.

 

 

 

Wind energy

2023 05/20

An independent multidisciplinary team presented a strategy for developing a wind industry covering the period until 2035. The study undertaken between September 2022 and April 2023 was compiled by Nikos Sakellariou, Stephen Badrie, Dale Ramlakhan, Sanja Simmonds, Randy Ramadhar Singh and Sarah Hosein.

The report, now made public, noted that achieving 2 gigawatts (GW) of wind capacity by 2035 would require investments of more than US$7 to US8 billion and can be achieved with the involvement of investors and the commercial banking sector or development finance institutions.

The proposal aims to create a sustainable energy future while promoting growth and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Success will depend on the active collaboration of stakeholders in the :

1. Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries,
2. Ministry of Public Utilities,
3. Ministry of Planning and Development,
4. Ministry of Legal Affairs,
5. State agencies and technocrats,
6. funding agencies and
7. developers,
8. financial institutions and, crucially,
9. the private sector.

The Government will play a critical role in facilitating the development of the wind industry by promulgating a vision for wind; amending and enacting laws and regulations supporting a policy framework that promotes growth; initially providing financial and economic incentives; and establishing a transparent process for developing wind energy projects according to the best international practices.

The report builds on a baseline study where an analysis of suitable locations in T&T was conducted. That study identifyed potential utility-sized windfarm sites, both onshore and offshore.

These sites were identified and ranked for suitability together with an estimate of their levelised cost of electricity. To benefit from its untapped wind energy potential, a clear and transparent legal and regulatory framework should be adopted to effectively enable wind energy development.

Therefore, an assessment of the legal and regulatory framework as it pertains to wind energy was also conducted to identify gaps to help create a sustainable wind energy industry.

According to the proposal, approximately 2.75 GW of onshore wind power is expected to be available and 32 GW offshore. In outlining how the proposal will be executed the study explained, “To achieve the target of two GW installed wind capacity by 2035, the actions proposed are time bound in sequential horizons/milestones. To build local capacities and capabilities the wind journey should start from exploiting the onshore wind energy potential and gradually move towards exploiting its offshore vast potential,” the report said.

While discrete projects can be developed on an ad hoc basis, the creation of an industry that can “green” the country’s energy mix and add further value to the local petrochemical industry, must be carefully thought out, nurtured, and enabled.

Proposed legislative amendments

To develop wind energy , the policy, legal and regulatory environment will need to include provisions enabling the uptake of the wind industry. The study made several suggestions to ensure that the transition to wind power in the native power generation matrix is just, inclusive and equitable.

Regarding the legislative review process, the report said if it is determined that legislative action is necessary, then the minister should submit the proposal to the Cabinet for approval along with a request that the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs be tasked with drafting the law.

On specific legislation the study advised that while no amendments are proposed for the EMA Act however, it is suggested that the EMA integrate into its licensing and permitting process, a new regulation to the effect: “For any projects which involve the use of solar energy or wind energy for the production of electricity, the board of the EMA shall treat with these projects as priority and ensure that measured against best global practice, a timely and just decision be made for which the board will provide a comprehensive explanation to the minister within one year of the initial application for such projects.”

Pertaining to the T&TEC Act there is a recommendation for a new clause or section of the existing T&TEC Act entitled “Wind Power.”

“A standard interconnection agreement and grid code should be developed to ensure that developers are aware of the standards and regulations that govern interconnection with the national grid. The clauses would introduce the guarantee of interconnection, costs of interconnection, grid upgrades costs, and commitment offtake generated electricity.”

The clauses would introduce the guarantee of interconnection, costs of interconnection, grid upgrades costs, and commitment offtake generated electricity.

The study also recommended that the RIC Act should be amended to support the deployment of utility-scale wind power by consideration of a number of issues which will also be addressed in the amendments to the T&TEC Act.
These would include the imposing and collection of license fees; and ensuring that service providers make a sufficient return to fund essential investment.

The act should also clearly outline a transparent and accountable process on providing recommendations on license awards and monitoring and enforcing compliance with license conditions.  Pertaining to local content policy and participation, the study said to create a sustainable wind industry , special emphasis must be given to developing the local talent in all areas of the wind value chain.

Relating to financing options for wind energy projects, the study said wind projects are capital-intensive, outlining that main financing options to be investigated for the development of the wind energy sector would involve for instance, blended financing, a combination of equity and non-recourse debt (project finance) or balance sheet finance.

Please Also Note :

South America Offshore Wind 2023

Sep 18-20, 2023 – Sheraton Grand, Rio

Link:-  https://fwssouthamerica.com/

 

 

Port efficiency

2023 06/21

The Ministry of Trade and Industry executed a contract with the French company, SOGET, for the provision of consulting services for the implementation, maintenance and support of a Port Community System, a neutral electronic platform that connects the border clearance IT systems used by various stakeholders such as ASYCUDA used by the Customs and Excise Division, NAVIS used by the Ports , the TTBizLink platform operated by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and other border clearance agencies.

SOGET is a leading Port Community System (PCS) operator in France and a global leader in the development of Port Community Systems.
Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ayleen Alleyne-Ovid signed the contract on behalf of the Government and CEO Herve Cornede, signed on behalf of SOGET. The contract amount is US$9.8 million. The PCS project is estimated to be implemented over the course of 24 months at the major air and sea ports and will enhance trade efficiency and port logistics.

The PCS will facilitate the intelligent and secure exchange of information along the supply chain and will allow for automation, management and optimisation of port logistics processes through the single submission of data.
The PCS will help to increase speed, predictability and reliability in processes at the ports of entry and exit and reduce cost for the clearance, movement and storage of goods. Some of the key modules to be implemented under this contract are the Management and Administration Functionality Module, the Maritime Transport Module, Port Operations Functionality Module and the Road Transport Module.

The PCS will increase transparency and traceability in the clearance, movement and storage of goods across the supply chain.

T&T’s Port Community System will usher in a new era of trade facilitation, automation, and supply chain optimisation. Stakeholders for this project include the port authorities, international shipping lines, freight forwarders, customs brokers, hauliers, importers and exporters doing business in Trinidad and Tobago.

By streamlining processes and minimising inefficiencies, the PCS will significantly reduce lead times, mitigate bottlenecks, and enhance the attractiveness of the local ports.

Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon expressed enthusiasm for the transformative impact the Port Community System will have. She acknowledged the support and cooperation required from all stakeholders.

To ensure the success of this project, training programmes, workshops, and extensive support will be provided to familiarise users with the system and maximise its utilisation.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry remained committed to advancing Trinidad and Tobago’s trade facilitation capabilities and promoting economic growth. Implementation of the Port Community System represents another significant step toward achieving these objectives.