T&T: Stop the false projections of doom

Vision 2020 ambitiously projects that our nation will advance close to being First World in another 13 years, but in respect of the amount of nonsense spoken on any topic, Trinidad and Tobago already ranks near the top of the world.

The recent flutter about so-called proven gas reserves is a case in point.
I am advised by real experts that BP, BG, BHP and others, are making massive investment decisions in the oil and gas sector of this country that have as much as a 25-year horizon. They are the real experts who put their money where their mouths are, and they know that we will not be running out of gas (or oil) in the near future.

With the current and expected investment in exploration activities projected over the next ten years in both marine and land areas by a host of companies, much of which is in new exploration areas, additional reserves will be found and probable and possible reserves will be converted to proven reserves. This has been happening consistently over the last 47 years! The reason it’s called “probable” is for exactly that reason-it’s probably there!

Also, the recent Ryder Scott gas audit did not include a review of our oil reserves, nor, I am told, the cross-border proven gas reserves of over ten trillion cubic feet (tcf) off our south coast.

Though “proven”, I am told that the rules of the gas audits require a formal agreement with our Venezuelan friends for its exploitation and sharing before this massive field can be formally added to our proven reserves. We own 25 per cent of it, but it can all come ashore in Trinidad to satisfy our projected gas consumption, thereby monetising by agreement even Venezuela’s portion of these proven reserves. This field will double the current proven reserves available to us.

Trinidad Express