Express ( Trinidad and Tobago )
14 April 2023 ( Page 19 )
Lee: Govt, Young destroyed energy sector
¦ Kim Boodram
kim.boodram @trinidadexpress.com
OPPOSITION Chief Whip David Lee has accused the Government of decimating the country's energy sector and said Energy Minister Stuart Young must be held accountable for failed projects during his two years in office.
Lee said the country had to be made aware of the negative impact on the economy of the Government's failure to deliver in the energy sector, as it was affecting the standard of living.
The Pointe-a-Pierre MP noted recent reports that Trinidad and Tobago's oil production had declined to its lowest in 68 years and said much of this was to be blamed on the closure of Petrotrin, the former Stateowned oil refinery.
Speaking at the Opposition's press conference at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition in Port of Spain on Wednesday, Lee said the Government's replacement for Petrotrin, the Heritage Petroleum Company, had also failed to replace the value of the defunct refinery.
He said this country was losing its place as the energy centre of the region and was not poised to benefit from increased oil prices globally, as its production was too low.
Lee said the Government had done nothing to spur oil production in the last eight years and that investors were shying away.
He said the population ought to question the projections and promises of Finance Minister Colm Imbert, as T& T was not producing enough to meet those revenue targets.
The MP questioned the failure and stagnation of deepwater bids and asked for the results of the last bid.
Lee said, meanwhile, the local cost of living was rising, especially due to the increase in fuel at the retail pumps.
He also called on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to revisit his promise to lower fuel prices as prices drop worldwide and said, 'we are losing out on billions in potential revenue at these high oil prices, while the fuel and forex security of this nation have been eroded as we have to import fuel'.
Lee recalled the Central Bank Economic Bulletin for January 2023, which stated that, 'The transport sub index jumped to 14.6 per cent in November (compared to 5.9 per cent in June) given higher costs of fuel and lubricants (35.4 per cent in November compared to 13.2 per cent in June).'
The CBTT stated that 'this increase largely resulted from the rise in selected fuel costs announced by the Government in September 2022,' Lee noted.
He also stated that: 'With production for 2022 at 58,436 barrels per day, it means that despite all the big talk and empty promises from Minister Young, the last time production was this low, T& T had not achieved independence as yet. It was in 1952.'
He referenced a 2017 statement by Imbert that, 'the major oil producer in Trinidad and Tobago at this time is Petrotrin, which accounts for almost 50 per cent of the country's total production'.
He asked whether the Government had 'simply given up on increasing oil production', stating, 'Budget 2022 was the first time in decades that a finance minister failed to give the oil production targets for oil.'
Young not delivering
Lee gave a scathing review of the energy minister's two years in office, saying that, 'Imbert, Minister Young and Prime Minister Rowley are fully aware that the key to this country's oil and gas is in the deep water, yet they have failed, year after year to introduce a proper package which could enable companies to explore the deep areas.
'Today, we call on the Minister of Energy to tell the country why the results of the bid round from June, 2022, have been delayed. This bid was closed on June 3, 2022, and the results,
as stipulated by the ministry of energy, was supposed to be announced three months after,' Lee said.
He asked 'despite the bid failing with only four of the 17 blocks receiving bids, what has happened to those bids?'
Lee said energy companies were no longer 'willing to listen to the hollow promises of the finance minister, budget after budget, about incentives when they have a viable, more attractive option in our next door Caricom neighbour, Guyana'.
'The reality of Dragon gas is simply a farfetched dream as, up to this day, the Government cannot answer when first gas will be if the Venezuelan government has accepted,' Lee said. He has also called on Young to 'tell the population if the Niquan Plant is operating or has been shut down for three months'.
'Taxpayers are entitled to accountability on Niquan because of the national concessions which Niquan Energy received from the State,' Lee said.
He said Niquan had obtained the two billion- dollar gas to liquid plant on which taxpayers' money was 'squandered' by former Petrotrin executive chairman, Malcom Jones. He said Young 'must tell the country if Niquan is producing low sulphur fuel for the market successfully as promised, or is product off spec, meaning it is high in sulphur, hence it is difficult to sell on the international market'.
He said the Government must also tell the country, 'after all of these major concessions from the State, is Niquan actually offering value for money' or a 'proper return on investment especially after that lengthy shutdown due to the explosion in 2021'.
He said 'in light of a gas shortage to Point Lisas and high gas prices, have the people of T& T received proper return for this gas?'
Lee said the Government has 25 million worth of preference shares in Niquan, they must tell the population whether Niquan been operational for the last three months and has met its financial obligations/ debts such as those owed to Republic Bank.
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ANSWERS NEEDED: David Lee - Photo