It is my honour to address you today in such a critical time for the energy sector, and to welcome you to the virtual launch of the Energy Conference 2021. Over the years, we have witnessed the Energy Conference grow to become a much-anticipated annual fixture on our calendars, and with good reason. The Energy Conference has become something of a one-stop shop, a central point of focus which brings together key players from the energy sector, and presents opportunities to forge business relationships, all within a proven hydrocarbon province, with advantageous regional linkages.

When I speak to Trinidad and Tobago being a proven hydrocarbon province, I draw reference to the results of the latest Reserves Audit conducted by Ryder Scott, for year-end 2019, which I presented to the media last week. The Reserves Audit revealed that the country’s Total Unrisked Technically Recoverable Resources, which was formerly called 3P Reserves, have been increasing since 2016. Between 2018 and 2019, we were able to replace our P1 + C1 Technically Recoverable Resources at a rate of 113%, taking our P1 + C1 Resources, which was formerly known as Proved Reserves, from 10.5 TCF to 10.7 TCF. Exploration resources continued to exceed 50 TCF due mainly to successes in deepwater exploration, which also resulted in the movement of large volumes out of this category and into Technically Recoverable Resources.

As is well known, the energy sector remains the largest contributor to the social and economic development of Trinidad and Tobago, and the Government has been actively working with industry stakeholders to maximize the contribution from the development of these resources. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a slow-down of activity in the energy and other sectors of the economy.