Saith:
US$4 B in projects for Pt Lisas
By Adrian Boodan
The Trinidad Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
10 01 06
The
Point Lisas Industrial estate is to benefit from
projects worth US$4 billion Energy Minister Dr Lenny
Saith said yesterday.
Saith delivered the feature address
at an energy luncheon hosted by the Couva-Point
Lisas Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday at the Kam-Po
Restaurant in Chaguanas.
Saith said discussions towards defining
project agreements are continuing for the establishment
of a US$1.6 billion ethylene complex and maleic
anhydride processing facility. He said construction
has already started on a US$1.2 billon petrochemical
facility to produce melamine and urea ammonium nitrite
for the first time in T&T.
The above mentioned products would
have great scope for downstream producers in the
areas of plastic products, detergents, pharmaceuticals,
agricultural products, paints and furniture.
He said Essar steel’s US$1.2
billion integrated iron and steel complex would
be producing steel sheets which will provide the
platform for manufacturing activity in the automotive
industry.
Saith said NUCOR is also proposing
to go further downstream with its operations in
T&T. Cabinet has already given the green light
for T&T’s first gas-to-liquids plant proposed
for Point-a-Pierre under a joint venture agreement
between World GTL and Petrotrin to produc 2200 barrels
per day of diesel and naptha from 18.4 million cubic
feet of gas.
Saith said the possibility of future
LNG trains would only happen after domestic gas
demands are satisfied. He said the continuing expansion
of the natural gas sector has meant that Government’s
fiscal policy for the sector must now be re-visited
to optimise the country's returns from these resources.
He said the Finance Bill for 2006 has now incorporated
the monitoring of LNG along with other petroleum
products while the government is drafting legislation
to deal specifically with natural gas.
He said gas demands on the Point
Lisas estate is expected to grow to two billion
cubic feet per day by 2009 and expand to 5.5 billion
cubic feet per day by 2016 across a more diversified
portfolio.
In the search for more gas, Saith
said new acreage for exploration is being offshore
while government is seeking ways to advance cross
border talks with Venezuela for the unitisation
of reserves that straddle the borders of both countries.
Answering questions from the media,
he said the failure of the $0.5 billion Ibis Deep
Well should not serve as a deterrent to future petroleum
exploration. Ibis Deep, he said, was an example
of how hard it was to find oil.
“Drilling
for hydrocarbons is a risky business and I am told
if you get one in four, one in five you are doing
well. We would have liked it to be successful it
wasn't, we have blocks out and we will see what
happens and I am sure interest would continue to
be there.”
The
Trinidad Guardian
Thursday 28th September, 2006
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