Kamla: bpTT find, fruit of PP incentives

She reported that these incentives included the 100 per cent accelerated capital allowance for exploration and incentives for developmental drilling. She pointed out that at the time the People’s National Movement administration was “highly critical of these incentives” but these incentives are the “very ones allowing what is happening to take place”.

bpTT has discovered two trillion cubic feet gas in the two wells. Persad-Bissessar said that companies like bpTT need to be incentivised due to declining reserves and levels of production.

She reported that foreign direct investment in petroleum related areas increased from US $501 million in 2010 to US $1,459 million in 2015. She said the momentum created by incentives continued into 2016 and 2017.

She said the high level of activity by BPTT in the past three years “pales in comparison” to mid-2010 when the company had significantly reduced level of investments in this country.

“We look forward to the monetisation of the various projects,” she added. (See Page 16A)