00:00The meeting between the Prime Minister and Venezuela's acting president was highlighted in the House of Representatives today.
00:06And the chairman of the National Gas Company says the expected supply of natural gas from Venezuela can revitalize LNG
00:13and domestic downstream industries in this country.
00:17He also mentioned that government is also considering a second steel investment.
00:22Jewel Brown reports.
00:24Mr. Speaker, the Venezuelan side indicated that the Prime Minister was indeed persona grata in Venezuela.
00:35Land and Legal Affairs Minister Salom Hussain in the House of Representatives,
00:39as he highlighted Prime Minister Kamala Passat-Besessa's meeting earlier in the day with Venezuela's acting president, Delce Rodriguez,
00:46within the framework of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
00:51And the Minister Hussain had a message for the opposition.
00:55Mr. Speaker, they will need a very big pipe to smoke that with.
01:01At an event held at the U.S. Chief of Mission Residence in St. James on Tuesday night,
01:06National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Chairman Gerald Ramdeen highlighted the importance of what the government says
01:12is the pending supply of natural gas from Venezuela.
01:15Trinidad and Tobago possesses the infrastructure, the experience, and geographic proximity
01:21to help bring those resources responsibly to market.
01:26Venezuela gains a pathway for economic recovery.
01:29Trinidad and Tobago gain supply that can revitalize LNG and the domestic downstream.
01:35And the United States and the wider region gain a more secure, stable, and diversified energy platform in the Americas.
01:44U.S. Charge d'Affaires Philip Kern also spoke at the networking reception to foster engagement
01:49between Trinidad and Tobago downstream operators and the NGC.
01:54The last round of negotiations were hard, and I know that producers here in this room felt that.
02:00Several of the resulting contracts were shorter than I think we all would have preferred.
02:06And I suspect Gerald would agree that nobody wants to negotiate the future of an industrial plant on a year
02:12or two time frame.
02:14However, the U.S. diplomat said while those negotiations were taking place,
02:17the NGC was also working on the supply side of the problem, inclusive of cross-border gas.
02:24Gas projects, no surprise to anyone here, takes years.
02:28But the only way to have more gas in three to five years is to do that work today.
02:34And this is what we are here to recognize.
02:37Gerald, congratulations on the progress you and your team have made.
02:40Mr. Kern is anticipating the next round of negotiations between the NGC
02:45and downstream companies will occur with a much better supply picture.
02:49Mr. Ramdeen said renewed confidence is also visible beyond a gas supply.
02:55In the short period that we have been in office,
02:58Trinidad and Tobago has attracted Ibis Steel
03:01to begin the revitalization of the former steel complex at Point Lisas.
03:06The intention is to make Ibis and Trinidad the foremost producer of vanadium in the free world.
03:14The government is presently considering a second steel investment.
03:18On Wednesday, the NGC announced it has executed a binding term sheet
03:22for NGC to acquire 50% of the volumes from the coconut gas development
03:27in Trinidad and Tobago's waters,
03:29which is expected to commence production in the first quarter of 2027.
03:34Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
Comments