By Alicia Chamely
A natural gas pipeline from Suriname to Trinidad, being constructed without entering Venezuelan territorial waters, is not feasible.
This is the stance of former Minister of Energy Stuart Young.
On Wednesday, Young took to social media to defend his position on the construction of a natural gas pipeline from Suriname to Trinidad after current Energy Minister Roodal Moonilal stated Young was wrong.
Addressing reporters at the UWI South Campus in Debe on May 19, Moonilal dismissed Young’s assertions, adding there was a model for the pipeline to be built without crossing into Venezuelan waters.
Moonilal added, “Throughout the world, pipelines are run through water, on land. It is quite common with international, commercial arrangements and international law to run a pipeline through other territorial waters belonging to several countries and on land.”
In response to this, Young put out a statement on his Facebook page stating during his tenure a plan was presented to build a pipeline from Suriname to Trinidad without crossing through Venezuela’s waters, however it was cost effective.
Young said, “We did feasibility studies a couple years ago and the cost of building a pipeline from Suriname (assuming there is sufficient gas to export, which there was not as yet), and passing it around Venezuela’s territorial waters would not make any commercial sense.”
He added, “In other words it would be way too expensive to build a pipeline from Suriname that does not run through Venezuela’s waters adding to the cost of landing the gas in Trinidad and Tobago and no one would be able to afford the gas. It simply is not commercially feasible.”
Young warned of misleading statements from the government regarding the nation’s energy sector.
He stated, “It is concerning that so far every single initiative suggested by the government to secure future gas supply is simply not feasible at this time or even in the medium term.”
Since Moonilal took office on May 3, Young has been increasingly vocal about his concerns regarding the government’s plans for the energy sector. He has dismissed their plans to explore the Nutmeg field in Grenada and has been sharply critical of their promises to strike energy deals with Guyana and Suriname.
