King Carlos and PM to continue gas talks here
PORT SPAIN
Trinidad & Tobago Express
Petroleumworldtt.com
02 24 09
King Juan Carlos of Spain will be meeting with Prime Minister Patrick Manning and senior executives of Repsol's operations in Trinidad and Tobago next Tuesday in Port of Spain to discuss new contracts for the supply of natural gas to the first three liquefied natural gas (LNG) trains in Point Fortin.
Spain's monarch will attend the meeting, with his wife Queen Sofia, as part of a state visit to this country that begins on Monday.
Repsol LNG, along with the state-owned Natural Gas Company (NGC), bp Trinidad LNG BV, British Gas Trinidad LNG, and Suez LNG Finance SA, is a shareholder in Train I, while the shareholders in Trains II and III are Amoco Trinidad LNG LLC, British Gas, Repsol and NGC.
Energy Minister Conrad Enill yesterday confirmed that the meeting will be a continuation of the talks on gas supply contracts he and Manning had with Repsol's top brass, at its head office in Spain last October, during yesterday's post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's.
"I think that Respol took the view that since their head office company is a Spanish company, and the King was coming here, that they would do something," Enill said.
Manning and Enill had travelled to Spain to discuss the matter with senior Repsol officials there, as well as to London, to meet with senior officials at bp and BG to also begin talks with them on the matter.
Foreign Affairs Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon announced the meeting would take place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port of Spain.
Enill was asked what the Government expected to gain from next week's Repsol meeting since the price of natural gas has fallen below the US$6 per million British thermal units (mmbtu) it was at in October.
Enill said the energy business is a long-term business, and noted it can take from eight to 12 years for a project to move from the agreement phase to the production phase, and "any discussions we pursue, we take that into account".
Story by
Juhel Browne
from Trinidad & Tobago
Express
-browne@trinidadexpress.com
Trinidad & Tobago Express
Friday, February 13th 2009
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