Prime Minister’s Statement – Ministerial Interaction with oil, gas and Petrochemical Majors (Proman, BP &Shell) based in Europe

Ministerial interaction with oil, gas and petrochemical majors (Proman, BP &Shell) based in Europe

 

Proman – Zurich and Düsseldorf

 

Proman is heavily invested in the oil and gas sector of Trinidad and Tobago in both the upstream and downstream.

 

Proman owns and operates 14 petrochemical plants in Trinidad producing and marketing Methanol, Ammonia, UAN, Urea and Nitric Acid and employs over 1,100 workers at its Trinidad operations.

 

Proman has also invested in upstream gas production via its subsidiary De Novo.

 

The Government is encouraging these investments to ensure that all small pools and stranded gas fields are exploited.

 

The principals of Proman, at their global corporate headquarters, met and discussed their current and future investments in Trinidad and Tobago and highlighted how these investment decisions for Trinidad and Tobago fit into the group’s expansion plans.

 

Proman’s executive management includes Trinidad and Tobago nationals who made technical and business presentations to the Trinidad and Tobago delegation and held valuable discussions with the team in Zurich, Switzerland and Düsseldorf, Germany.

 

At their corporate headquarters in Zurich the executives provided an overview of the group’s global operations which are spread over 11 countries. Discussions surrounded future exploration and production of natural gas to provide feedstock for the plants in Trinidad and Tobago, new developments and investments they are making in shipping and the possibility and potential for Trinidad and Tobago in this area (using methanol to power the ships), future plans for turnarounds and decarbonisation of plants in Trinidad, opportunities for Trinidad and Tobago to access financing for new projects including new technologies and green financing in the energy sector and the possibility of alternative energy generation and storage.

 

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago keenly encourages these developments as important parts of our economic expansion and elements of diversification.

 

At Proman’s Düsseldorf offices in Germany, their executives from Zurich, Germany, Italy and Portugal made presentations focused on projects being executed at several locations globally.

 

The presentations focused on Proman’s experience across the full value chain from Project Development and Finance, Natural Gas Production, Petrochemical Production to Marketing, Logistics and Distribution. There was discussion about the opportunity to deploy some of these resources in Trinidad and Tobago in future investments that would maintain and even expand our energy sector.

 

The Trinidad and Tobago Ministerial delegation had informative and satisfying discussions with Proman’s principals David and Joseph Cassidy and executives, many of whom are Trinidad and Tobago nationals (Ricardo Mohammed, Managing Director Group Operations, Anita Gajadhar, Managing Director Marketing, Logistics and Shipping, Bryan Ramsumair, Managing Director of De Novo).

 

BP – London

 

The Trinidad and Tobago delegation travelled to London to meet with the BP leadership at their global headquarters at St James’s Square.

 

BP is the largest producer of natural gas in Trinidad and Tobago and is critical to our energy sector.

 

We met with Bernard Looney, Chief Executive Officer, Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, EVP, gas & Low carbon energy and David Campbell incoming country president of bpTT’s operations.

 

The discussions surrounded BP’s operations in Trinidad and Tobago, their continued investment in Trinidad and Tobago and future plans. The restructuring of Atlantic LNG was discussed as well as projects that will now be sanctioned for future gas production in Trinidad and Tobago. It was reiterated that BP remains committed to investing in Trinidad and Tobago and that it would continue to work closely with the government to deliver value for the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

 

As a direct result of the Government’s interventions and discussion with the highest level of the BP leadership since 2015 and in particular the negotiations since 2018 BP has invested US$7 billion in projects from (2015 – 2022) and our ongoing negotiations yielded over US$1.2 billion in value added payments to the treasury (from 2018 to date).

 

Importantly it was emphasised that BP should do future fabrication for its Trinidad and Tobago projects in Trinidad and Tobago and that the Government would work with BP and the local industry to make this happen.

 

We also discussed the current gas production challenges and plans for future gas production to sustain current levels as well as the pathways towards increased production.

 

Shell – The Hague

 

The Trinidad and Tobago delegation met with Shell senior executive leadership in The Hague.

 

In-depth discussions were facilitated with Wael Sawan, Integrated Gas, Renewables and Energy Solutions Director, Cedric Cremers, EVP LNG, Eugene Okpere, Senior Vice President and Country Chair Shell Trinidad and Tobago and other Shell Executives.

 

Since Shell’s return to Trinidad and Tobago with its acquisition of British Gas the Government has worked closely with Shell to ensure its investments in Trinidad and Tobago and its expansion of gas production. Shell, with growing investments in Trinidad and Tobago, is one of the leading and largest players in the global LNG industry.

 

The Government team was provided with an update on Shell’s current Trinidad and Tobago natural gas production which is at the highest levels it has been since they re-entered Trinidad and Tobago in 2016 at approximately 850 mmscf/d. This critical production is a direct result of the partnership between the Government and Shell and the work that we have done with them to ensure terms that deliver fair value to both Shell and the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

 

We discussed the future gas production outlook, including, Manatee which will be the largest investment in gas production in Trinidad and Tobago in a decade. Importantly we also discussed the restructuring of Atlantic LNG and agreed to a new timetable to complete this soon. The restructuring of Atlantic LNG is setting a precedent globally as this has never been done before i.e. the restructuring of LNG trains between private shareholders and a Government. It is expected that when the terms are finally agreed that Trinidad and Tobago would derive significant benefits in areas like shareholding, structure and pricing.

 

We also discussed the potential of Hydrogen, Carbon Capture and Storage and an overview of the Global gas markets (with an emphasis on LNG).

 

With respect to the exploration and production at the Soldado field the Government obtained a commitment from Shell to assist with improved seismic appraisal and interpretations of this resource.