MP Lee: Energy Minister must tell T&T if there is a crisis at Point Lisas
The Minister of Energy must tell the country if there is a looming gas crisis at the Point Lisas Industrial estate yet again as reports have emerged that four critical downstream plants have shut down in the last few weeks due to a lack of natural gas.
It is distressing and disturbing given the critical importance of the downstream sector to our national economic stability that reports have emerged of the shutdown of Proman’s M2 and M3 plants as well as the Tringen 1 and Nutrien 03 plants due to a lack of natural gas supply.
Yet again the survival of the energy sector as well as the economic well-being of T&T given the significant forex and revenue that these plants generate have been jeopardized by Minister Young’s consistent failure to address our decimated levels of natural gas production.
It is appalling that three years after the massive shutdown of a record number of downstream plants at Point Lisas due to gas supply, Minister Young, through his failure to undertake any proper action, policy, measure, or innovation to increase gas supply has allowed yet another gas crisis to threaten T&T.
As a matter of fact, this incident is a product of Minister Young’s failed approach to gas production during his tenure which has been marked by unattractive bid rounds, lack of proper incentives and the inability of T&T to attract new investment into gas production.
This incident of gas supply at Point Lisas becomes even more troubling as only yesterday the Prime Minister admitted that the Venezuelan government had not accepted the terms for the Dragon Gas deal, validating our concerns that this government should have focused on a more sustainable avenue for gas production as opposed to selling a dream with dragon gas.