T&T
potential gas supplier to Chile
Trinidad
Express
Port
Spain
Petroleumworld.com
07 30 06
Trinidad and Tobago has emerged as a potential supplier
of liquefied natural gas to Chile, according to
news reports from that South American country.
The
Associated Press recently reported from Santiago
that Chilean President Michelle Bachelet indicated
that Chile will sharply reduce its reliance on natural
gas from Argentina within two years.
Bachelet
said in a state television interview that her energy
plan "allows us to guarantee that within two
years, Chile will be independent and autonomous
from the point of view of energy.
She
said Chile will have "other sources that will
guarantee that we will not continue to depend on
Argentine supplies. Energy is a fundamental matter
for me. It's a subject of national security."
Argentina
has repeatedly reduced or suspended the supply of
natural to Chile in recent years, steps Chile says
violate formal agreements between the two countries.
Argentina
also announced it will increase the price of gas
it sells to Chile to compensate for higher price
it recently agreed to pay for Bolivian gas.
In
addition, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner this
month ordered an additional tax on gasoline sold
to vehicles with Chilean license plates, which Bachelet
described as discriminatory and contrary to Latin
American integration efforts.
Last
May, Bachelet inaugurated construction of a regasification
plant in Quintero, 230 kilometers (140 miles) northwest
of the capital of Santiago. The US$400 million plant
will turn imported liquefied gas into natural gas.
Potential suppliers include Indonesia and Trinidad
and Tobago.
Chile
currently imports 97 per cent of the 22 million
cubic meters of natural gas it uses daily, at a
cost of more than US$800 million a year. Argentina
is its main supplier.
The
government also confirmed in April that natural
gas deposits discovered in Magallanes, Chile's southernmost
region, have commercial exploitation potential.
Trinidad Express
Wednesday, July 26th 2006
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