Trinidad & Tobago’s 2017 Strategic Roundtable

The event was sponsored by the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC), local environmental consulting firm Coastal Dynamics and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). Tomas Bermudez, IADB country representative, served as the moderator.

The discussion brought together a group of esteemed panellists, including Mark Loquan, NGC president; Gerry C. Brooks, NGC chairman; Fitzroy Harewood, Petrotrin president; Senator David Small; Dwight Mahabir, Damus  CEO; Joel M.C. Pemberton, DeNovo Energy; and Eugene Tiah, Massy Holdings’ executive chairman of energy and industrial gases business unit. Participants engaged in an open and constructive dialogue regarding the underlying tendencies, challenges and proposed solutions as they relate to Trinidad and Tobago’s hydrocarbons industry, in addition to the nation’s specific business processes.
Entitled “Creating alignments and exploring new opportunities on the horizon,” the event brought the following key topics to the forefront of discussion: adjustments to the country’s national energy policy, improving the performance of state-owned enterprises and creating greater alignments between government and industry players to mitigate gas shortages. Panelists also delved into ways that the country might encourage the application of new technologies within the upstream sector and promote plans to provide Trinidad’s energy services expertise to other countries.

“The NGC is having conversations with the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, the Energy Chamber, services providers and universities to increase value across the entire value chain,” Loquan said.

“We need to learn from Pemex as an NOC and take the initiative [to change and restructure]. It is important to establish a platform that ensures the new materials in our sector come at the lowest prices in order to produce more and have better margins,” Harewood, told the audience.

Pemberton expressed his opinion by affirming that “the industry needs to be crystal clear and standardised guidelines for attracting investment to the country’s energy sector. We have to attract more capital to the upstream sector for stable projects and we need more independent operators like DeNovo Energy. We don’t have to wait for bid rounds, those will take years to happen while operators need to make their business decisions now. The government has to be more effective, we must diversify our options and create a more sustainable industry.”

An edited version of the discussion will be published in The Oil & Gas Year Trinidad & Tobago 2018, which is due to launch in Q3 2017.

TOGY is a leading supplier of strategic communication, business intelligence and networking services dedicated to the global energy industry. The publication produces annual country specific reports for more than 35 petroleum provinces around the world. The Oil & Gas Year Trinidad & Tobago 2018 will be TOGY’s fourth consecutive edition on the twin island country and will offer a unique opportunity to provide in depth analysis of the country’s energy industry as seen through the eyes of the country’s leading energy executives. TOGY reports and its revolutionary digital business intelligence platform TOGYiN are valuable resources and critical tools for energy investors around the world, highlighting and promoting key actors, companies, projects and opportunities. TOGY distributes copies to executives and government members in 101 countries.