Shirley Bahadur, T&T Guardian
PORT SPAIN
EnergiesNet.com 01 02 2023
Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young says it is “foolhardy” to think that the only reason this country had great results coming out of the energy sector this year was because of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Young made the statement yesterday as he posted a five-minute video to his Facebook page outlining the highlights for the Energy Sector this year.
Young said 2022 was a significant year globally for the energy sector.
“On February 22, I was seated next to the Energy Minister from Russia. The world changed on February 24 on the global energy landscape with the Russian/ Ukraine crisis that has directly affected the commodity prices that we rely on here in T&T,” he said.
Young said oil and gas companies were directly responsible for 57 per cent of the revenue achieved by this country in 2022.
“I can tell you we’ve contributed directly out of our oil and gas companies and our petrochemical sector approximately $30 billion in revenue, that does not include all of the directly associated service companies related to the energy sector, out of a revenue of approximately $53 billion,” Young said.
“This year has been a very significant year, one of the things that we have achieved is more global recognition and being at the tables where the global decision-making is taking place with respect to the energy sector,” he said as he cited trips made by himself and Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to Washington DC.
“I can also report to you right here domestically and locally we have contributed significantly not only to our economy but also to the welfare of our people in T&T,” he said.
Young also lauded the recent agreement for the restructuring of Atlantic LNG.
“We’ve also completed significant negotiations for future gas for T&T and we have been working with the downstream petrochemical sector in T&T on the ammonia and the methanol side where prices have been higher than they have been in many, many years,” he said.
Young said this country needed to take the issue of climate change seriously especially when considering the future of the energy sector.
“So what we have been doing we have signed the methane pledge we have been looking and doing all of our homework with methane which is one of the most harmful gases. We are pushing hard here in the Ministry of Energy renewables,” he said.
Young said this included the recent 112.2-megawatt solar project as well as the exploration of a hydrogen-based economy.
“We are also working on other areas in the renewables sector and I hope to be able to come to you the population with respect to that in the not too distant future,” he said.
“We are also looking at how can we clean up and decarbonise our energy sector so we are looking at carbon capture, sequestration and utilisation and I hope that we will be able to come to you the citizens with the plan as to how we can get that done because we in T&T, as I have been saying, are blessed we have been blessed by the almighty God and we have an industry here that is perfectly poised if we make the right decisions now and implement them that will continue to keep T&T as a global leader in the energy sector,” he said.
Young hailed State companies Heritage Petroleum and the National Gas Company for their financial performances this year.
“We have done well in our energy sector for 2022 but we won’t sit and wait because we know that we must continue to plan and implement for the future generations,” he said.
guardian.co.tt 12 31 2022
