Oil and gas still key economic drivers

PORT OF SPAIN (CMC):

Trinidad and Tobago Energy and Energy Industries Minister, Stuart Young, on Monday said he agreed that despite the trend towards renewables, oil and gas will continue to be important primary fuels for the coming decades.

“I believe this and I am an advocate for the continued and increased use of natural gas, as it is the cleanest fossil fuel. In 2020, fossil fuels represented approximately 79 per cent of primary energy consumption worldwide and by 2050, they are projected to represent approximately 65 per cent of primary energy under the GECF assumptions, but in a much larger market,” Young told the conference of the Geological Society of Trinidad and Tobago.

He said that the share of petroleum and other liquids in the primary energy mix is projected to decrease from 30 per cent in 2020 to 25 per cent by 2050.

“Natural gas demand is projected to increase by 46 per cent and its share in the energy mix from 23 per cent in 2020 to 27 per cent by 2050. The Asia Pacific region, almost doubling its current gas consumption, will make the largest contribution to this growth with more than 45 per cent of the additional global gas volumes through to 2050,” he added.

FRONTLINE PLACE

Young said that the power generation sector will also take a frontline place, accounting for 42 per cent of the total increase in gas demand.

“As a small island state and a hydrocarbon economy we recognize our responsibility to transition to a low-carbon economy and, thankfully, decades ago we identified natural gas as the fuel of choice in achieving this objective,” he said.

He said in this regard, the Trinidad and Tobago government is aligned with the policies of its major gas producers who consider natural gas production as the transition fuel in the movement to net zero carbon emissions.

“We have been, and intend to continue, working closely with our stakeholders whether in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors toward the achievement of a low-carbon economy. We are determined to keep Trinidad and Tobago competitive in the changing and evolving global energy sector.”

Young said that for the foreseeable future, Trinidad and Tobago’s economy will be dominated by oil and gas, adding “we are fortunate to have as partners energy majors BP, Shell, Woodside (formerly BHP), Repsol, EOG Resources, and the smaller outfits, like Perenco and Touchstone who have committed to tangible and sustained investment in the upstream.

UPSTREAM INVESTMENT

“We also have newcomer, De Novo, who has proved itself as a stranded, and smaller field producer. As a government we will facilitate upstream investment with the appropriate policies to ensure that we maximize the recovery and monetisation of the country’s hydrocarbon resources, which are substantial.”

Young said that the latest gas reserve audit established that at the end of this year, technically recoverable resources amounted to 23.2 trillion cubic feet (tcf) and prospective of 55.2 tcf .

“Whereas in the latest oil audit, 3P reserves amounted to 455.3 million barrels and prospective resources amounted to 3.2 billion barrels with 90 per cent being in our deep water province.”

The energy and energy industries minister told the conference that natural gas plays a critical role in supporting the country’s petrochemical and liquefied natural gas (LNG) industries.

He said Trinidad and Tobago has 10 ammonia plants, seven methanol plants and four LNG trains, all of which depend on natural gas as the primary feedstock.

He said currently the National Gas Company (NGC) is in negotiations with upstream companies for new gas supply contracts in order to maintain its supply to its downstream customers. The government is also actively engaged in negotiations with Atlantic shareholders on a long-term agreement and liquefaction licence for the operation of a restructured unified Atlantic LNG Facility.