The Gas Stripping Slows...how empty the tank?

Camille Bethel of the Express Newspaper reported on 12th October that 'Trinidad and Tobago does not have enough gas to build a fifth Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Train, although the country has not suffered a drop in the production of LNG.'

It was during the World Gas Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina last week that T&T energy technocrats leaked to the international media that Train 5 was off. Director of Policy in the Ministry of Energy, David Small did the honours when he told Reuters News Agency "As of now, the gas is not all there for an expansion. It is not automatic that there will be a fifth train". (Recall that last November, Minister in Ministry of Finance Mariano Browne was telling the Express Newspaper that a fifth Train was "still in the cards").

Ms. Bethel reported that 'The latest Ryder Scott gas audit done by the Houston-based firm earlier this year showed that proven gas reserves, at 15.37 trillion cubic feet (tcf), reached an all-time low last year.'

Heads of States Reject Transparency Recommendation by Civil Society

When the CARIBBEAN SUB REGIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY FORUM met in POS Trinidad on October 30-31, 2008, in preparation for the April 2009 Summit, it recommended “reporting on energy and environmental developments and basing these on international codes of best practice for the energy and extractive industries in compliance with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and for the new biofuel industries”.

Unsurprisingly, this recommendation was left out of the draft Declaration of Commitment to be signed by the Heads of State. The EITI aims to strengthen governance by improving transparency and accountability in the extractives sector. The EITI sets a global standard for companies to publish what they pay and for governments to disclose what they receive. Why would the host State Trinidad & Tobago want to avoid global transparency standards in the oil and gas sector? Because a “GAS RUSH” is on…