Gas pipeline needs French support

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning said the Intra-Caribbean Gas Pipeline (ICGP) will not be viable unless the French Caribbean territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe agree to purchase natural gas from the pipeline.

Addressing yesterday’s 2004 Trinidad and Tobago Petroleum Conference at the Hilton Trinidad, Manning reiterated this country’s desire to provide natural gas to its neighbours by pipeline within a short period. Noting that Government is currently establishing the necessary diplomatic linkages in the eastern and French Carib-bean islands to achieve this goal, the Prime Minister said success in the latter was critical. “The proposed ICGP could potentially see a reduction of 30 percent in energy costs, including electricity and would guarantee these countries price stability and predictability over the medium to long term. “However, because of the small size of the islands and their minor projected demand levels, it is crucial that Martinique and Guadeloupe agree to purchase the gas for the project to be viable. These two French-speaking islands therefore hold sway to the project, since over 70 percent of the gas would be sold to them,” Manning said.

As a result of this reality, Prime Minister Manning said discussions have begun with French power company Electricite de France, with a view to having these two islands switch to natural gas. He said the National Gas Company of TT is mandated to drive the project forward and has indicated that many Caricom countries would have to put legislation in place to facilitate the pipeline, given the significant legal, geopolitical and jurisdictional issues to be dealt with. Manning said a Cabinet-appointed committee is continuing to study the feasibility of converting mass transit fleets from diesel to CNG and upgrading the existing CNG network in the country. The Prime Minister added that since 1975 “when the farsighted Government of the day made the decision to monetise our natural gas resources, TT’s energy sector has been the major sector for investments, attracting since then in excess of US$3 billion in each of the ten-year periods that followed.”