Mark threatens to write BP’s chairman about operations of bpTT

Despite an official statement from British Petroleum Trinidad and Tobago, (bpTT), that operations in this country were performed within the law, UNC chairman, Senator Wade Mark, has again called on the energy giant’s local operations CEO, Robert Riley, to “come clean” on the relationship between a local energy services company, formerly owned by Energy Minister Eric Williams, and the multi-national corporation. Addressing a large crowd at the Opposition party’s Monday night forum at Avocat Vedic School, Siparia Old Road, Fyzabad, Mark said the party was also prepared to alert BP’s executive chairman, Lord John Browne, on the goings-on between “bpTT and this corrupt Government.”

The relationship between Williams’ company, Maranatha Geophysical Services and bpTT gained national prominence after Mark had announced in the Senate that a “multi-million dollar contract” had been awarded to the company after Williams assumed the energy minister portfolio. “We call on Mr Robert Riley to come clean on this matter and if he cannot come clean, we are prepared to write to Sir John Browne in London and let him tell us what is going on with bpTT and this corrupt Government,” Mark said. In a spirited address, Mark stated that contrary to reports, the contract which required Maranatha to provide seismic data services had not ended in March, 2003, but had been extended by bpTT.

“The contract was signed in February in 2002. It ended in March of 2003, and they extended the contract, so this man company still has the contract with bptt,” he said. Mark added, “That is why we have called on British Petroleum, bpTT, to tell this country what is the value of this contract. Up to now we don’t know. “We are told it is a multi-million dollar contract and we are calling on bpTT to tell the country what is the value of that contract.” Mark also wondered if the non-implementation of the new oil and gas taxation regime was being deliberately delayed by the Manning regime.

Mark said, “That oil and gas regime is designed to give us more revenue from the oil and gas sector and we want to know why in the last three and half years, we have not implemented the oil and natural gas taxation regime.” Mark also estimated the country had lost significant revenues to cutbacks in oil production by foreign oil companies. And declaring the Integrity Commission as a “morgue” for the burial of “things they want to kill,” he once again called for a police investigation into the operations of the National Lotteries Control Board. Mark also quoted an article from the New Statesman journal, where he called the name of the government minister responsible for the freeing of the Bajan fishermen more than one year ago. Also addressing the forum were MPs Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Kelvin Ramnath and activist Austin Jack Warner.