00:00In response to a question from TV6 News, Energy Minister Dr. Rudal Munilal provided an update on a hydrocarbon spill
00:06that had occurred in Trinidad and Tobago's waters, one which the government said was stopped on the day it had
00:15been detected.
00:15I can confirm that we are in discussions through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the guidance of the Honourable
00:22Prime Minister and we expect that later this week we will have a virtual meeting with our colleagues in Venezuela
00:29to discuss this matter of the small oil spill.
00:34On Monday, Venezuela's Foreign Minister, Ivan Gil, issued a new statement reiterating his country's concerns.
00:41First of all, I would like to issue an important alert to both the national and international communities, I repeat.
00:47We have already spent several weeks working on a very worrying matter regarding an oil spill coming from the island
00:53of Trinidad, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, which occurred at the end of April, according to data from technical
00:59teams, our teams, from the Ministry of Eco-Socialism, PDVSA, INEA and the Navy, who monitor this region.
01:07The video with the English translation was shared on Facebook by Venezuela's embassy to Trinidad and Tobago.
01:13After Venezuela first claimed it was affected by the oil spill, the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries has said
01:19on May 10th that Heritage Petroleum Company Limited detected an oil spill at the main field on May 1st, 2026,
01:26and immediately activated its oil spill response protocols.
01:30The Energy Ministry also said the source of the leak was identified and stopped on May 1st, 2026, repaired and
01:37returned it to service on May 2nd, 2026.
01:41The Ministry further said the spill was estimated to be 10 barrels of oil and that daily inspections continue to
01:48be made.
01:49Energy Minister Munilal had also given a similar statement to TV6 News at that time and had said the Energy
01:54Ministry noted the concerns of the Venezuelan government and had inquired through Foreign Affairs if there had been any correspondence
02:02on the matter and at that time received nothing.
02:06On Monday, Energy Minister Munilal confirmed there was a change in that regard.
02:10We did receive some reports from our counterparts. We have also done our own scientific and technical work. So we
02:19are meeting later in the week where we expect that both technical teams will match their data, raise the relevant
02:26scientific questions and come to some type of conclusion or resolution.
02:31Minister Munilal said the Energy Ministry remains committed to working with its counterparts in Venezuela through the Ministry of Foreign
02:38and Caracom Affairs.
02:39Jules Brown, TV6 News.
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