The Norway-based Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has graded Trinidad and Tobago 89 points out of 100, a high overall score in implementing the 2019 EITI Standard. This Standard outlines requirements for implementing countries in their mission to disclose vital extractive sector information.
EITI said Trinidad has used the EITI to contribute to public debate in the oil, gas and quarrying sectors. Its overall score reflects an average of the three component scores on Stakeholder engagement (90), Transparency (80), and Outcomes and impact (96.5).
EITI said that, as the largest gas producer in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago depends on its mature oil and gas sector for about a quarter of its government revenue, and has an important domestic gas processing industry. Trinidad and Tobago EITI (TTEITI), it said, plays a vital role in reporting and disseminating information on the extractive industries, including on its small quarrying sector. Despite challenges related to COVID-19, it said TTEITI has managed to sustain multi-stakeholder dialogue on natural resource management, and has also explored innovative formats to communicate sector data to the public, notably through its State of the Extractives Report.
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EITI Board Chair, Helen Clark congratulated Trinidad and Tobago for strengthening transparency in the oil and gas sector.
“Its State of the Extractives Report is an excellent tool for contributing to public debate in an engaging and accessible format,” she said. “The Government is encouraged to strengthen transparency further by enacting legislation, which would institutionalise EITI implementation, and to make the terms of gas sales contracts available to the public.”
Trinidad will need to address seven corrective actions before its next EITI validation, scheduled for commencement in 2026. Through the validation, implementing countries are assessed on their ability to meet the provisions of the EITI Standard.
Before then, the EITI has advised the country to ease reporting burdens by lifting tax confidentiality barriers and routinely disclosing more information through government and company websites. EITI said this would allow TTEITI to focus on using extractive sector data to inform debate and policy on energy transition pathways, in view of anticipated shifts in fossil fuel demand and potential future revenue losses from its oil and gas sector.
