On June 2, 2017, BPTT announced two new gas discoveries offshore Trinidad – Savannah and Macadamia – together amounting to around 1.3 trillion cubic feet of recoverable resources, based on Rystad Energy analyses. In addition, the Angelin project discovered back in 1995 was announced sanctioned. The recent activity will have a positive impact for a country that is currently facing challenges related to securing enough gas to Trinidad’s significant gas industry. While the gas production in Trinidad has seen a downward trendsince 2012, Rystad Energy’s latest data now shows an expected production increase in 2019.
“Continued focus on exploration in general, but in particular near infrastructure exploration (ILX), and fast track developments is still a necessity. Rystad Energy sees that Shell is also taking steps to enforce their position in Trinidad, while BHP has exploration in Trinidad as one of their most important issues going forward. We expect to receive more good news from Trinidad in the years to come”, comments Kjetil Solbraekke, Senior Vice President South America at Rystad Energy.
One country remains
Only one country remains on the OECD’s «black list» of tax havens after power in the wake of the Panamanian Shandal. It shows a new review, which, however, gets criticism. Major progress is made in international tax evasion work, and only one country is still on the OECD’s «black list» of tax havens.This according to the OECD’s «Transparency and Information Forum», which has recently completed a review of 15 countries previously considered tax havens according to the organization’s criteria. Most countries achieved approved results – including Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Panama, where extensive tax evasion was discovered in April last year. Only Trinidad and Tobago is considered to have done too little to correct regulations and shortcomings that have allowed citizens in other countries to deceive their own tax authorities, reports Nordic News,.
«Discussions are being held with Trinidad and Tobago, which is expected to make progress in the near future,» writes the OECD in a press release. The review, however, receives criticism from the Tax Justice Network, TJN, a leading non-profit organization basedin the UK. TJN’s boss Alex Cobham writes in a blog post on the organization’s website that the OECD blacklist is based on «criteria that are so watered that they are generally meaningless».
About Rystad Energy
Rystad Energy is an independent oil and gas consulting services and business intelligence data firm offering global databases, strategy consulting and research products. Rystad Energy’s headquarters are located in Oslo, Norway. Further presence has been established in Norway (Stavanger), the UK (London), USA (New York & Houston), Russia (Moscow), Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), as well as Singapore and Dubai.
