Stew: Brexit will not affect UK’s commitment to TT

That hasn’t changed in any way except I would say it’s been perhaps reinforced further.” Stew was responding to Business Day’s questions about Brexit following the workshop, “Global Trends and Technology for Sharing and Collaboration in the Offshore Upstream Industry.” Stew hosted the event in conjunction with Peterson Integrated Logistics at his Maraval home last Wednesday (August 3).

Asked if he expects to see Britain placing greater emphasis on the Caribbean post-Brexit, Stew told reporters the vote was not against international trade nor against international engagement.

“Britain (wants) to do more trade, not less. Our economy has been built on trade and international trade. I think more jobs have been created in Britain in the last six years than in all of the rest of the EU member states put together.

So we’ve got a very strong economy, we’re out there, we’ve always been a strong engager in the world and that has not changed,” Stew said,’ TT’s Energy Minister, Nicole Olivierre, attended the workshop and responded to Business Day’s questions about Centrica’s ongoing efforts to dispose of its local assets.

Asked what impact this would have on the industry, the minister pointed out that the energy company has not produced their TT assets at a time when the country continues to experience a “significant gas curtailment (while) there are small fields that have proven reserves that have not been exploited.” “So if Centrica is not prepared to do that exploration,” Olivierre declared, “then we certainly would want to invite another company that will produce it, because our objective is to get production. We have reserves sitting in the ground, there are stranded reserves, there are idle reserves. So if one party, who is sitting on that acreage, is not putting in the investment that would produce, we certainly would like to see them give it up to someone who will.” Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, entered TT in 2010 when it acquired the assets from Suncor for US $380 million (?246 million) in cash. Centrica has a non-operated 17.3 per cent stake in one producing block; North Coast Marine Area (NCMA-1) and a 90 percent operated interest in one development, Block 22, which contains two discoveries; Cassra and Sancoche. The NCMA-1 block currently supplies gas into the Atlantic liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility.

In 2014, Centrica sold its 80 per cent stake in Blocks 1(a) and 1(b) in the Gulf of Paria to Trinity Exploration and Production plc for US$23 million. Business Day asked Olivierre is she has had discussions with Centrica about a smooth transition to another company to explore the reserves.

The minister said, “We haven’t gotten to discussions on the terms of that transition because before they can make any attempt to sell those resources, they would have to get authorisation from us and we would have to approve the company that’s buying it.” Olivierre cautioned that if a company is sitting on acreage and not meeting their minimum work obligations, the Energy Ministry “will take steps to terminate those agreements” if they are not able to produce it the way that they should be producing it.