Petrotrin chairman Malcom Jones, left, looks on as Energy Minister Conrad Enill, centre, shakes the hand of Gerold Fong, president and chief executive officer of Voyager Energy (Trinidad) Ltd following yesterday’s signing of production sharing agreements at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad hotel, 1 Dock Road, Port-of-Spain.
Photo: Keith Matthews

BY ASHA JAVEED

Energy Minister Conrad Enill said yesterday that despite challenges in global financial markets, T&T remained steady in its growth projections.

He said the recent upheaval in global markets had left T&T unscarred which makes it good for investment.

He added that T&T’s insularity had left it with an economy which is strong and growing and with an energy sector which accounted for 45.1 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2007.

He said the Government was on track to sign nine production sharing contracts (PSCs) in the next 6-8 months which should solidify the energy sector’s strength in the local economy.

Enill said issues that were challenging the energy sector were being dealt with: a new taxation regime to stimulate exploration was being considered as well as the proposal of a national integrated energy company.

Enill made the statements at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad hotel, 1 Dock Road, Port-of-Spain, as he delivered the feature address at a signing ceremony for PSCs for the Central Range Blocks- deep and shallow-with Voyager Energy.

The Canadian company is the third to enter into contracts with T&T. It secured these rights in January 2008. Already, Canada Superior and Petro Canada, which are exploring off Tobago, have made gas finds and the expectation is that Voyager will also be successful.

Enill said that Voyager had been persistent in its bid to be part of the local energy industry. Petrotrin chairman, Malcom Jones, said that the Central Range Block which Voyager will explore lies in a prolific hydrocarbon basin in the same fault line as BHP Billiton’s Angostura field. He said the risk may be high but the rewards will be commensurate with the risk.

The Central Range Blocks consist of a shallow horizon block of 181,262 acres and deep block covering 211,475 acres. The PSC’s grant the company exclusive exploration rights over the blocks and call for a minimum work programme that includes 100 kilometres (km) of 2D seismic, 250 km of 3D seismic, 3 shallow wells and 1 deep well to be completed over a four year period. The blocks were first put out in the 2005-2006 bid round.

Leroy Mayers, permanent secretary at the Energy Ministry said that the nine blocks should generate about US$500 million in downstream industries and business in the service sector.