“The Dragon is on the way.”
That is the assurance from Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, Dr Roodal Moonilal, who says negotiations surrounding the long-anticipated Dragon Gas Project are being fast-tracked to strengthen national energy security.
The Minister said discussions and agreements with key partners are now moving towards conclusion, with Government also advancing talks on several cross-border gas fields with Venezuela, including Cocuina Manakin, Loran Manatee and Dragon. These fields form part of wider regional developments involving Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela’s offshore gas resources.
“I can confirm now that our cross-border fields with Venezuela, primarily Cocuina (Manakin) and Loran (Manatee), we are well on the way to concluding agreements and discussions in terms of the exploration and production of gas from those fields. The cross-border field is called Dragon, as you know, and Dragon is a major, major project which we have never given up on. While we were critical of the PNM’s handling of that project, we never gave up on that.”
He added that Government’s diplomatic team is preparing to travel to Venezuela in the coming weeks to finalise exploration and production timelines.
“We expect, in a few days, a few weeks or so, that we will be in Venezuela with a diplomatic mission discussing not only energy, but, I imagine, other issues as well in other sectors with other relevant officials. And we are working very, very hard because those cross-border and across-the-border gas fields also has an enormous impact on our energy security as we go forward.”
Speaking on prospects for restarting the refinery, the Minister said Government is drawing confidence from successful refinery restarts in West Africa, some of which had been idle for years.
“Quite recently in Washington, we have had discussions with officials of the Republic of Nigeria and other places as well on the refinery upstart. We’re extremely optimistic. In Africa, incidentally, there have been several refineries that have had restarts, some even longer than seven years have been gone. And we were excited to learn of some of the West African developments.”
Dr Moonilal added that Government is now entering the final stages of negotiations with multiple entities, focusing on financing arrangements and commercial restructuring.
“We are very happy with the interest and we are happy with a scenario where, of course, the taxpayer will not have to expend any significant amount of capital investment. But we can get that from the international private sector, from the investing community. And, of course, we can have a reputable, world-class operator to work with our labour force here, labour force from Trinidad, local content, and restart that refinery.”