Gas for gas
By
Kevin Baldeosingh
Trinidad & Tobago Newsday
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
08 18 07
Some
people have been looking askance at Prime Minister
Patrick Manning’s blasé reaction
to the Ryder Scott Report, which says that Trinidad
and Tobago has only 12 years of gas reserves left. “Think
positively and have some faith,” Mr Manning
told guests at an energy conference this week,
going on to quote Matthew chapter 6, verses 25-33.
And,
indeed, this passage does say, “Consider
the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil
not, neither do they spin”: and neither do
URP workers, CEPEP employees, or Calder Hart. This
is why the nation needs natural gas, for the next
verse says: “Therefore take no thought, saying
What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or,
Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” The theological
interpretation of this verse, as Mr Manning well
knows, is that as long as you have gas, you can
always import KFC, Coca Cola, and outfits by Tommy
Hilfiger.
Indeed,
the verse even says you needn’t
use your brain since, with gas, you can always
pay Professor Mastrofski to do your thinking for
you. The concluding verse even outlines Mr Manning’s
policy positions: “Take therefore no thought
for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought
for the things of itself” – such things
being a new official residence, the Tarouba Sporting
Complex, and a Government Campus where Ministers
can take no thought of the morrow in luxury.
Apart
from all this, we must bear in mind that Mr Manning
would not have made so confident a statement
unless he had good reasons – which is to
say, moral reasons – for believing that T&T’s
gas reserves are still abundant. So no doubt the
first thing the Prime Minister did on receiving
the Ryder Scott Report was consult his prophetess.
And, given Mr Manning’s assurance, it is
reasonable to infer that she prophesied that the
country will never run out of gas as long as Patrick
Manning is a politician. Moreover, on this issue,
the energy experts appear to be in agreement with
Mr Manning’s seer woman. On a morning TV
talkshow, bpTT head Robert Riley says he went to
church last Sunday and the priest prayed for gas.
Clearly, then, there is no need to worry.
And
UWI lecturer Gregory McGuire says only two-fifths
of T&T’s marine areas have been explored,
while consultant Anthony Paul says what is needed
is more geological work. What this shows is that
the energy experts are doing their bit to ensure
that the country continues to have gas, which is
something without substance.
Thus, all of them gloss over the fact that the
unexplored areas are in deep sea, which costs a
lot more to drill in. That means that the energy
companies will have to be given greater incentives
by government, which in turns means that, even
if they find gas, the revenues coming to government
will be less. Nor do any of the experts mention
that the energy sector contributes about 46 percent
of government revenues, so that any decline in
gas will require Ken Julien be given many more
honorary doctorates to fund the UTT.
This
is because in 2005 the non-energy deficit rose
to 9.7 percent of GDP, meaning that without
oil and gas we would be spending more than we are
earning. But this should not be a cause for concern,
because the Central Bank’s 2006 Review of
the Economy does not give a breakdown of natural
gas revenues nor the non-energy deficit. So Central
Bank Governor Ewart Williams, who continues to
insist that it is food prices which drive inflation,
is also ensuring that the country has gas.
The
nation can also rely on UNC leader Basdeo Panday,
who came out of jail long before the Ryder
Scott Report came out of Cabinet, to keep the nation
supplied with gas. In this, he has been ably supported
by Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Jack Warner and, especially,
Kelvin Ramnath who, as a Petrotrin employee, knows
all about gas and has the belly to prove it. But,
in this time of uncertainty, the nation cannot
depend on these stalwarts alone. The representatives
of the Inter-Religious Organisation must also step
up, calling for more prayers to stop murders, more
exorcisms to stop homosexuality, and more marches
to stop traffic. Trade union leaders must rail
even more against the neo-liberal capitalist imperial
conspiracy that is keeping up the price of bread.
And the nation’s racial champions must continue
to warn about “dem people” in medical
school and “these people” in Laventille.
But even all these producers will need Government
support, starting with a ban on all imports of
Pepto-Bismol and a law making it mandatory to use
chataigne in doubles. However, the example must,
first and foremost, be set by the Prime Minister.
And Mr Manning realises this, which is the reason
for his sudden announcement of an early Budget.
So citizens can rest assured that, by the time
Mr Manning finishes speaking next Monday afternoon,
Trinidad and Tobago will have enough gas to last
until the 22nd century.
Email: kbaldeosingh@hotmail.com
Trinidad
& Tobago News day
Friday, August 17 2007
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