Oil
$ won’t flood TT
PORT SPAIN
Petroleumworldtt.com
03 09 08
ALTHOUGH WORLD oil prices soared to US$106 per
barrel, a prominent business association leader
has cautioned not to expect massive increases in
government revenue since the local economy had
moved from an oil-based to a gas-based economy.
This
was the view of South Trinidad Chamber of Industry
and Commerce (STCIC) president Rampersad
Motilal, who on Thursday also called for “continued
fiscal restraint” given that increased oil
prices would negatively affect transportation costs
of food and other commodities.
On Thursday, oil prices soared to a record high
of US$106 per barrel while gas prices also experienced
an increase to US$9.742 per million British thermal
units at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Motilal,
chief executive officer of Methanol Holdings
(Trinidad) Limited, said the majority of the
country’s
oil would not be “anywhere near the prices
being quoted in the international press – much
of our oil is of relatively low quality and therefore
fetches prices significantly less than the benchmark
West Texas Intermediate crude commonly cited in
the press.”
“Just
because international oil prices are at record
levels the population should not expect
massive increases in government revenue. Trinidad
and Tobago is primarily a natural gas- based economy,
not an oil-based economy. We are currently producing
about six times more natural gas than oil, on an
energy equivalency basis.”
“This
is important to bear in mind because, while oil
prices have increased significantly over
the past year (up 73 percent since this time last
year), benchmark US natural gas prices have shown
a much more modest increase of 29 percent over
the same period.”
Motilal said increasing oil prices would also
have implications for transportation costs of goods
being imported to Trinidad and Tobago, including
food and place further pressure on inflation.
Story
Richardson Dhalai from Trinidad & Tobago's
Newsday
Trinidad & Tobago's Newsday
March 8 2008
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