Trade in the times of war, and a pandemic, adds to the volatility of the Trinidad and Tobago economy still heavily dependant on oil and gas. It's a scenario former ministers of finance and energy Winston Dookeran and Kevin Ramnarine consider in their look at the implications of the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis.
Dookeran takes a few steps back in his analysis of the oil and gas industry, addressing what he sees as slap in the face by TT's absence from last month's Guyana energy forum.
He told Business Day that TT’s decision not to attend was a missed opportunity for the sector and the country's economy.
Dookeran said, “Guyana offers tremendous opportunities for TT, and those opportunities need to be grasped, and therefore the energy conference that took place a week ago would have been a good forum to be able to assess how the energy sector is unfolding in Guyana and what role TT could play in supporting that effort, to the benefit of our country and indeed the region.”
Dookeran, also a professor of practice in international relations at UWI, added that because of TT’s vast history in the oil and gas industry, the knowledge it possessed was worth exploiting in markets that were now being introduced to the sector.
Those markets, he explained, needed TT’s expertise to manoeuvre the sector, in which this country can see tremendous benefits, yet TT was missing the boat.
“It is most unfortunate that our presence there was missing, because beyond missing the conference, it goes towards opening a serious dialogue of technical, logistics and diplomatic measures in which the Guyana oil find and possibilities can assist the whole region – and more specifically TT, with its abundant history and expertise of over 100 years in this field, in which Guyana is now beginning to walk, Dookeran explained.
The Guyana International Energy Conference and Expo took place on February 15-18 in Georgetown. It addressed future projects while highlighting upcoming business and investment opportunities.
Guyana recently entered the oil and gas market, and its significant finds of crude oil has opened opportunities for the country and the region’s growth and development.
Dookeran added that the Prime Minister’s visit to Doha, Qatar last week for the Sixth Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) was not necessary and could have been handled by an experienced team from the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries.
The GECF meeting addressed the expanded use of natural gas, increasing the share of natural gas in maritime and land transport and improving the international trade conditions for natural gas.
[caption id="attachment_942712" align="alignnone" width="1024"] In this photo released by Amiri Diwan, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, centre, gives a speech during the opening of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Doha, Qatar, on February 22. - AP PHOTO[/caption]
Dookeran said although TT has been a member state in the GECF since 2008, it diplomatic relations with the re
