RAMPS Logistics’ Chief Executive Officer, Shaun Rampersad, said “a breath of fresh air” has been breathed into the Trinidad and Tobago services sector, now that the United States has granted a waiver of its sanctions regime to allow development of the Venezuelan Dragon gas field.
Service companies in Trinidad have “been through hell” in recent years, Rampersad said, having to downsize and find ways to survive. But with the announcement, Rampersad said he is hopeful, optimistic, and overjoyed.
In an interview posted on RAMPS LinkedIn page, the CEO said, “I haven’t stopped smiling since [hearing this news]. It means everything for us. You know, in the energy sector, we don’t make planning decisions for one year, for two years, for three years, for four years. So, when we look at what the gas production looks like right now; okay we are fine for a few years. But what Venezuelan gas does for us is that it allows us to plan our business for 5, 10, 15, 20 years out.”
Trinidad Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley said during the Trinidad and Tobago Energy Conference last week that gas production in Trinidad is 2.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/day), down from a peak of 4.1 bcf/day in earlier times.
Trinidad is looking to several projects which started up in 2022 to reverse recent declines in gas production levels. Rowley is hopeful for other key projects to start-up over the next few years.
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The country had no clear line of sight back to 4.0 bcf/day until the Dragon announcement. Rampersad said Venezuelan gas offers a real chance to get production back to the glory days.
“For the first time in a long time, people in Trinidad and Tobago think that we can get back to 4 bcf per day. It is a massive deal,” the RAMPS CEO said. “Can you remember what Trinidad and Tobago felt like when we were producing and consuming 4 bcf per day? There was hope in the country. There was joy in the country. I’m really looking forward to getting this thing going.”
According to Reuters, Dragon holds 4.2 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas discovered on the Venezuela side of the maritime border by PDVSA.
Rampersad also touched on the likelihood of tapping the Loran-Manatee field, which has about 10 trillion cubic feet of gas, with about a quarter of those reserves at Manatee on the Trinidad side.
