As the region’s oil-rich newcomer Guyana looks to steadily soar production, neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago (TT) is struggling with decreased resources, declining output and Covid-19 related-contractions in its troubled energy sector.
Yet, in contrast to the two-month-old Irfaan-Ali administration, the re-elected Keith Rowley-Government intends to “negotiate with the major oil and gas companies (for) an even greater share of energy revenues and complete the assessment of the gas value chain to ensure its viability in the short and medium-term,” Finance Minister, Colm Imbert said recently. All major players will be encouraged to share infrastructure and services, he added, during his three-hour 2021 Budget presentation to Parliament, earlier this month.
In a grim overview of other regional economies, he singled out Guyana becoming an oil-producing country, months ahead of schedule, in December 2019, noting that this country is the only exception with revised growth expected at just over 50 percent this year, as tourism-reliant sister states brace for previous economic gains to be significantly eroded.
