PM: TT may refine Guyana oil

He also said the 2016/2017 Budget will be presented in Parliament before the end of this month and Finance Minister Colm Imbert will indicate when Bud- get Day will be.

Addressing the post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair, Port-of-Spain, Rowley said, “Guyana has just discovered oil in commercial quantities...

Exxon being the company with partnerships with two other companies.” He said there are two wells in Guyana “that could flow...10,000 barrels per day each.” Observing that this country’s oil production has plummeted from 120,000 per day to a current level of 73,000 barrels per day, the Prime Minister said, “We have just spent a large sum of money in upgrading our refinery...

in the expectation that we would have been able to be refining more crude ...our own and import.” He explained that to the extent that this country has refining capacity and Guyana has crude oil, especially crude by a company whose core business is not refining, “it may very well be...that the possibility might very well exist for Guyana’s crude to be refined in TT.” Rowley reminded reporters that bilateral discussions he held with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in May could result in natural gas from Venezuela being used in energy facilities in this country.

Earlier in the briefing, Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre said she met with Guyanese President David Granger and Guyana’s Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman in Guyana August 24-25.

She explained that because Guyana does not have any experience in the oil and gas industry, Rowley instructed her to go to Guyana and express the Government’s willingness “to extend technical support” to the Guyanese Government to help in the development of their oil and gas sector.

Olivierre said Granger requested support from TT, not only for oil and gas development, “but also asked for our cooperation in the areas of education...with emphasis on engineering and technical studies...

infrastructure development...

agriculture, particularly with the introduction of technology...

and eco-tourism.” She said the drafting of the energy memorandum of understanding between TT and Guyana has begun. Olivierre said a Guyanese public/private sector delegation should be in TT in November to view some of this country’s energy facilities.