Jul 2009 Financial News

Enill: Energy figures still up in the air

Jul 20, 2009

Energy Minister Conrad Enill has said that the energy revenue figures which will dictate the value of this country's 2009-2010 Budget are still up in the air as a result of pricing fluctuations.

"What we will basically have to do, is we will have to see what the producer companies are getting for their products and that would be the basis of how we plan our expenditure (this year)," he said.

His statement comes on the heels of that by Minister in the Ministry of Finance Mariano Browne, who reportedly described the situation as "critical" last month.

Enill, who was speaking to members of the media at the formal opening ceremony of a recently refurbished National Petroleum service station in Aranjuez yesterday, indicated that the benefits this country was receiving in the energy sector now have been because of good decisions made by the Government over the last few years.

Other Government officials have previously said that the initial figures for the budget were not yet set in stone due to the volatility of the global energy market; as a result, there would have to be careful planning.

"There are no firm decisions. This is the discussion time. This is where you harmonise this project with that project, this number with that number. And look at what we can realistically do, what's pie in the sky and what's down on the ground," said Browne during an interview with the Business Express last month.

Meanwhile, Enill has indicated that with the high capital cost of exploration activities, there was no exploration activity taking place, "so all the people that supported rigs and that kind of activities will now have to move into the other segment of the industry, and the other segment of the industry of course, is construction".

This he indicated was one of the reasons why the Government has moved to construct a power plant down at La Brea and the aluminium smelter in Chatham while they wait for exploration activities to pick up.

Article by: Aabida Allaham
Source: Trinidad Express
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_business?id=161505960
Date Published: Saturday, July 18th 2009