PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC -Energy Minister Stuart Young said Monday that the energy sector is at a crossroads, facing unprecedented challenges and unparalleled opportunities.
“As we navigate this complex landscape, we must invest aggressively but prudently for a sustainable future,” Young said as he delivered the feature address at the three-day Trinidad and Tobago Energy Conference organized by the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago.
“We are witnessing a significant shift in global energy dynamics. Climate change, geopolitical tensions, and technological advancements reshape how we produce, consume, and think about energy. The path forward requires not just vision but concrete investment and a belief in our destiny.”
Young, who is expected to assume the position of prime minister within the coming weeks after the incumbent, Dr. Keith Rowley, announced his resignation from active politics, said he would say, without fear of contradiction, “that what we have done to propel and secure Trinidad and Tobago’s future in the sector has been indicative of confidence in our country and reflective of unparalleled competence.”
Young said that according to the World Economic Forum, rapidly industrializing upper-middle-income economies with growing energy demand will need to navigate potential trade-offs between climate mitigation and socioeconomic development.
“The climate transition and its socioeconomic effects vary across countries due to their distinct contexts; however, many nations face comparable challenges and may pursue similar strategies for achieving an equitable transition.
“In 2024, although clean energy investments outpaced historical growth rates, the increase is insufficient to reduce the rising demand for fossil fuels or to replace current fossil fuel usage,” Young said, adding that consequently, fossil fuel demand is projected to rise by over three million barrels of oil equivalent per day this year.
However, he noted that energy experts have indicated that global upstream investments are anticipated to decrease by two percent this year, indicating a stabilization following the significant growth experienced earlier in this decade.
He said investments in deep-water projects are forecasted to rise by three percent, propelled by advancements in Guyana, Suriname, Mexico, and Turkey.
Young said the global demand for liquids is projected to increase by approximately one million barrels per day, with natural gas liquid (NGL) and other liquids expected to contribute an additional growth of over 300,000 barrels per day next year.
He said this demand will be influenced by significant technological and fundamental global trends expected to affect international energy markets in the upcoming year.
“These global trends will impact Trinidad and Tobago as a small oil and gas producer. The international movement to clean energy has resulted in the government taking steps to diversify and strengthen our energy sector.
“However, this has not been at the expense of oil and gas, which are the mainstay of our economy and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Our strategy has been to accelerate the exploitation of our oil and gas resources, which is in keeping with industry trends and market requirements. ”
Young spoke of the government’s aggressive interventions in the sector, negotiating and awarding new contracts and urging upstream gas producers to work with the government to spurn a resurgence of real investment in Trinidad and Tobago.
“We also receive better returns on our natural gas for our citizens as a direct result of work we began in 2018 securing prices for our gas that have averaged 15-55 percent higher than the traditional Henry Hub and other outdated indices. We respectfully negotiated and obtained that basket of indices that now includes Asian, European, and liquid pricing as our gas’s new and accepted formula. ”
Young said that the International Energy Forum has maintained that more investment in new oil and gas supply is needed to meet growing demand and sustain energy market stability. Based on the global energy outlook, it is estimated that a cumulative US$4.3 trillion in new investments will be needed between 2025 and 2030 to ensure adequate supplies due to growing demand and cost inflation.
“This augurs well for Trinidad and Tobago as the global energy industry has seen a turnaround by oil majors who have cut back on their renewable plans and shifted their focus to their oil and gas segments.
“Consequently, energy companies remain strongly interested in proven hydrocarbon provinces. In the global scenario, as of December 2024, Trinidad and Tobago ranked within the top 25 global gas-producing countries.”
Young said that in the last gas reserves audit conducted by independent petroleum consultant DeGolyer and McNaughton, Trinidad and Tobago’s gas reserves stood at 11 tcf but could rise to a potential of 20 tcf with the conversion of other technically recoverable quantities. He said exploration resources stand at 58.84 tcf and offer much promise for exploration to be undertaken by successful companies in the recent bid rounds.
“In keeping with our strategy to maximize the exploitation of our hydrocarbon resources, we embarked on a series of bid rounds which comprised blocks in our deep-water, onshore, and shallow-water,” Young said, adding that “all of our recent bid rounds have resulted in the grant of production sharing contracts or exploration and production licenses to the successful bidders.”
He said the grants and licenses’ outcomes would result in an upsurge in domestic upstream activity over the next five years. Activity is already rising, particularly over the past 12 months.
Young said that as the government continues to align with its strategy to optimize the utilization of hydrocarbon resources, it is pressing on with the bid round programs.
“We believe that the global outlook on fossil fuels, especially concerning oil and gas, has shifted, as leading energy firms have reduced their investments in renewables to concentrate on the more profitable and needed oil and gas sectors.
“We must capitalize on this opportunity and continue our efforts to attract aggressive upstream investment. While the bid round has been the primary method for securing such investments, we are also receptive to out-of-bid round proposals. We have shown an ability to work with established upstreamers to ensure the energy security that our country needs.”
He said the deep-water province holds the most significant promise for oil and gas discoveries. In the recent exploration activity conducted in the deep water by Woodside, eight of the 14 wells drilled resulted in an in-place discovery of approximately 10.8 tcf of natural gas, with an estimated 7.2 tcf potentially recoverable.
Young said that the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries is currently in discussion with Woodside on plans to develop 3.5 tcf of reserves in gas fields within its Calypso Project.
He said there continues to be a strong interest in undeveloped acreage in the deep water, as the prolific Guyana-Suriname Basin is a southeast extension of our eastern deep and ultra-deep marine areas.
Young said that in light of the strong interest in the deep water, the ministry identified potential prospects and developed a package for a 2025 Deep Water Competitive Bidding Round, launched on January 27 of this year.
“The Bid Round covers 26 blocks off Trinidad and Tobago’s eastern and northern shores. This bidding process will close on July 2, 2025, with the announcement of successful bids three months following the conclusion of the bidding round,” Young told the conference, adding that “our exploration program is aimed at ensuring the sustainability of our energy industry.”
He said it is as a consequence of such initiatives that new projects such as the BPTT Cypre Project and the Mento project, a Joint Venture between BPTT and EOG (EOG Resources, Inc), have been realized.
Young said Mento will be a 12-slot, operated facility on acreage, licensed by bpTT and EOG off Trinidad’s southeast coast. The first gas is expected in 2025.
Young said the next primary phase of upstream development will comprise the BPTT Ginger Project, the joint venture between BPTT and EOG in the Coconut Project, and Shell’s Manatee Project.
He said the development costs for the projects are more than three billion US dollars.
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