By Chantalé Fletcher
PRIME Minister Dr Keith Rowley says the restructuring of Atlantic LNG Train One was one of the major discussions with BP officials in London on Thursday.
Speaking at a press conference at the VIP Lounge at the Piarco International Airport on Saturday, Dr Rowley said, “We spent US $33 million to keep the LNG Train One option open not only for negotiating purposes but with the possibility of if gas was available that we would continue.”
He confirmed the re-structuring of the LNG infrastructure and described Train One as a “Flagship” as the government owned 10%. The prime minister said T&T has an 11% stake in Train Four.
“However, we do not own Trains Two and Three but Train One is connected to Trains three and four so, we are only a 10% owner, but as a country we have a much larger interest than 10%.”
The PM said, “We are the last persons to walk away from the table, as we as a government would have continued to give hope for the breathing of life into Trian One.
“We had discussions with both BP and Shell, but particular BP when the government relied when we extended the life of Train One for five years and BP was engaged in the drilling programme, we anticipated a positive outcome however, in the end, BP drilled a number of dry holes and later confirmed that we didn’t have the gas for Train One.”
Dr Rowley said, “I think we could now conclude that the gas is not there as BP has not been successful. However, we discussed BP moving forward in terms of investing and continuing to drill to find more gas.”
He said that although there was gas offshore, the deep-water gas was not the same as shallow water gas.
Dr Rowley added, “The shareholders of Train One now have agreed that by the end of the first quarter of 2022, we will take a decision on what has to be done about Train One and attempt to conclude the restructuring of Trains two, three and four, as all shareholders will have the interest when served in a re-structured arrangement.”
He highlighted that these discussions were well on the way.
In addition, Dr Rowley announced that the contract with Shell will be signed on November 17 in Trinidad and he said that this venture would bring a significant change to the country.
