By Sue-Ann Wayow

FORMER finance minster Colm Imbert is questioning the details of the Exxon Mobil agreement with government.

He also says that government should not begin to boast of any revenue earned from the agreement as it could take years before this is realised.

Speaking at an Opposition press conference on Monday, Imbert said the details provided by government to date were sketchy and asked several questions concerning the production sharing contract which was officially signed for Block Trinidad and Tobago Ultra Deep 1 (TTUD-1) at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s on August 12.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar delivered the feature address at the signing saying her government will pay special attention to the regulatory framework and enhanced measures to ensure competitiveness.

She said, “It is estimated that Exxon Mobil will incur expenditure of an estimated US $42.5 million in the mandatory first phase of the project. With success, I am told, the projected development cost could be between US $16.4 billion and US $21.7 billion.”

But Imbert said, “A number of issues have not been given proper attention, for example, what was the procurement process.” and he also wanted to know what were the terms of the agreement.

Imbert referred to the agreement between Exxon Mobil and the government of Guyana where royalties were two per cent, reminding that it was an issue in the last election in Guyana when the former government was accused of “selling out to Exxon Mobil.”

“We in Trinidad and Tobago, we charge a royalty of 12.5 per cent,” he said.

Imbert said that to date no seismic survey has been done which would take roughly a year, nor any exploration drilling which may take two years.

He added, “And then to go from discovery to production, it’s about seven years, so I would say a minimum ten years before the first barrel of oil is produced in that deep water area if it is at all.

“And then the arrangement that they have appeared to have entered into is that Exxon must recover all of its costs first before any revenue comes to the government, so maybe 12/13 years down the road, if oil is discovered there, the country might get some profit.”

He said while it was “a good thing” that a major oil company has decided to invest in Trinidad and Tobago, revenue, if any, would come “a decade from now which is really not relevant in the modern era.”