Dear Editor,
Trinidad & Tobago (TT) recently launched its “natural gas audit results” for the year ended 2022. In view of his, the publisher of Kaieteur News (KN), Glenn Lall, sought to sell a misleading story, viz-à-viz, a so-called comparison, suggesting that the Guyanese Government has failed to uphold a similar standard as regards Guyana’s natural gas resources. The story by the KN publisher, however, lacked context.
According to TT’s “Gas Master Plan (2015), TT has been a commercial producer of natural gas since 1953 (71 years to date), and it has only started to conduct audits of this kind annually since 2001─that is, forty-eight (48) years later since becoming a commercial producer of natural gas (1953).
In the case of Guyana, natural gas has so far been established in the Liza-1 field that is sufficient to monetize. ExxonMobil is still conducting feasibility studies in other fields to determine whether those fields have natural gas that could be commercialized. In fact, the Government of Guyana is currently finalizing a “Gas Strategy” for the country. It is important to note that the natural gas resources from the Liza-1 field that is associated with the gas-to-energy (GtE) project, will be derived as a byproduct from the drilling of crude oil. As part of Guyana’s gas master plan, the Government has to consider whether natural gas production will be pursued as a separate development, as in the case of TT.
Therefore, considering Guyana’s current state in terms of natural gas production, it is premature to conduct “gas audits” of a similar nature as in the case of TT. The natural gas resources in Guyana have not yet been fully explored and Guyana has not yet started to produce its gas resources. It is unfortunate and more so mischievous that media entities are omitting context altogether when putting out these stories. The omission of context and facts is becoming the norm of the day in some sections of the media fraternity. It is also improper to compare and contrast a 100+ years old industry with a 4-years-old industry.
Sincerely,
Joel Bhagwandin
