A bilateral meeting in the Surinamese capital, Paramaribo, between Suriname’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation, Albert Ramdin, and Trinidad and Tobago Energy Minister, Stuart Young would appear to be pointing in the direction of an eventual tri-lateral ‘sit down’ involving Port of Spain, Paramaribo and George-town on issues linked to regional energy security. The three being the only prominent energy ‘players’ in the region, such talks will have a wider significance in a heavily energy-dependent region.
Word of likely energy discourses among the three countries arose against the backdrop of Suriname’s energy, oil and gas summit and exhibition, 2023 which concluded last Wednesday. Back in 20i5, Guyana, joined Trinidad and Tobago as the region’s two oil-producing countries though Suriname is widely believed to be on the threshold of following suit. A Tuesday June 20 statement issued by Young suggested that serious intra-regional energy talks may now be beginning to take shape. “We discussed the potential of regional integration and in particular the role that we could play along with other CARICOM member states in providing regional and extra regional energy security,” Young is quoted as saying. A Trinidad and Tobago June 20 Guardian report also quoted Young as saying that he looked forward to participating in discourses with Ramdin and Guyana’s Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud in a ministerial roundtable on “Strategic Regional Cooperation: Challenges and Benefits” which was due to be held on Tuesday.
Trinidad is currently preoccupied with the ongoing tri-lateral focus involving itself, Venezuela and the United States which it hopes will end in Port of Spain receiving the ‘green light’ to access and refine gas secured from the Dragon gas field situated in Venezuelan waters. The sticking point affecting the conclusion of a deal on the Dragon Gas Field at this time is linked to the long-standing soured relations between Caracas and Washington and the latter’s view that President Nicholas Maduro secured office by way of fraudulent general elections. Young is reported to have said that he and T&T Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley had engaged decision-makers in Washington DC, negotiating and advocating for the grant of a waiver from Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for T&T to produce the Dragon gas field with Shell as a partner.
He said that his country’s push to secure the ‘green light’ to close a deal on the project has secured the support of ‘other leaders of the Caribbean Commu-nity.’ “We pursued the ability to access this gas field as there is the immediate excess capacity in Trinidad for us to produce additional LNG, ammonia and fertilizer products and methanol once we can produce the gas field, thereby contributing to energy security in the region.” Young said that if the Dragon gas project were to secure the ‘green light,’ “we would be able to provide additional LNG supplies to CARICOM countries and even Europe as it looks for alternatives to Russian gas.”
Trinidad and Tobago has used the limelight of the Suriname oil and gas forum to dispatch a delegation from the T&T Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) and ExporTT to Paramaribo in pursuit of stronger trade relations and are also in Suriname to strengthen trade relations. According to the TTMA, its trade mission is designed towards determining business opportunities within the Suriname market for local companies.
The Trinidad business delegation reportedly comprised twenty (20) companies from the chemicals, printing and packaging, food and beverage, garments and construction sectors.
