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Habit7 wrote:If Penny doesn't get Arima, tyres will be burnt.
rfari wrote:Penny eh really have a spine but at the same time she had charisma and was very personable and she eh a theef like anil and Rodger samuel. And even though she rell stick wrt pushing for infrastructural development we rima ppl does survive too cus we isn't sufferers like dem ppl in south that squatting and want road and water
People squatting all over Trinidad bhai,most of them your fellow party supporters . pete wrote:You know you can't cross the floor again right? You'd get thrown out of your party and the seat week be declared vacant causing a bye election.
brams112 wrote:rfari wrote:Penny eh really have a spine but at the same time she had charisma and was very personable and she eh a theef like anil and Rodger samuel. And even though she rell stick wrt pushing for infrastructural development we rima ppl does survive too cus we isn't sufferers like dem ppl in south that squatting and want road and water
Because nex ting dey distribute lands fairly and justly and dey go hadda actually work and buy land 
F#@ckin leeches the lot of you are 
Tek de mote outta yuh eye bigman! All Governments does give land to undeserving for political patronage.Crackpot wrote:brams112 wrote:rfari wrote:Penny eh really have a spine but at the same time she had charisma and was very personable and she eh a theef like anil and Rodger samuel. And even though she rell stick wrt pushing for infrastructural development we rima ppl does survive too cus we isn't sufferers like dem ppl in south that squatting and want road and water
Says the supporter of the party that is giving squatters free land in freeport to squatters and telling them it is for their children and ting so doh fack it up
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/videos/- ... 84701.html
Jairam Seemungal makin sure he ppl get dey land before the demonised pnm come back in office
SiR8081 wrote:PNM never really gave squatters land, they gave them HDC houses rent free in return for votes. The dept dealing with land had no staff (lawyers) up until 2012. Which is why caroni lands etc were never distributed.
Now the pp are giving them certificates of comfort and regularising them etc etc
T&T RUNNING OUT OF NATURAL GAS
New MHTL owners before tribunal...
Curtis Williams
Published:
Sunday, October 12, 2014
T&T is running out of natural gas and its shortage is pointing to a bigger problem. At the same time, the downstream sector is facing real challenges from Shale gas in the United States, with companies already preparing to move some of their operations there. Those were some of the arguments used by Proman Holdings, through its consortium Consolidated Energy Ltd (CEL), in seeking to have the Court of Arbitration rule that it should pay less that US $900 million for Clico’s 56.53 per cent of Methanol Holdings Company Ltd. In submissions which have never before been made public, since the proceedings were held in secrecy, and which the Sunday Guardian has copies of, it was revealed that the natural gas shortages, which have cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars, may have also hurt the Government’s valuation of MHTL.
CEL told the court that T&T’s gas shortages were likely to continue for years and it had already cost the company significant revenue while hurting the sales of the National Gas Company.
In a scathing review of the country’s natural gas challenges and allegations that the NGC has consistently underestimated the problem, CEL argued that both the Clico directors on the MHTL and the NGC made incorrect assumptions of gas supply issues. Proman representative on the MHTL board Joseph Cassidy told the Court of Arbitration, “Past and present experience shows that management, like the NGC, has underestimated the probable impact of curtailments in 2014 and beyond. Yet Clico has claimed that management’s assumptions concerning curtailments are too liberal. In particular, Clico-appointed directors, including Mr (Rampersad) Motilal, have continuously questioned management’s curtailment allowances of five per cent from 2016 to 2018 and five per cent thereafter.”
Cassidy pointed to last September as an example of the strain that gas shortages had put on MHTL, saying that while the NGC had estimated curtailments of 12 per cent under the DCQ (Daily Contract Quantity) levels for September 2013, the average curtailment rate was actually 25.96 per cent and on September 3, a 34 per cent curtailment rate made it impossible to maintain concurrent operations of all five methanol plants, so it was necessary to take plants offline. He said, “As a result, management decided to perform maintenance work on M2, followed by M5000. Curtailments have also impeded management’s ability to improve and achieve greater reliability in the melamine operations. Also, to appreciate the significance of current conditions, one must understand that prior to 2011, MHTL operated at name plate levels—the maximum quantities it could obtain, not DCQ levels. MHTL essentially took as much gas as it needed.”
Cassidy added, “Just by limiting MHTL to DCQ levels, MHTL’s production is significantly lower regardless of gas curtailments. The gas curtailments, which result in MHTL receiving even less than DCQ levels, just make the situation that much worse. And as I have repeatedly stated to the board, this would not be an issue today if the NGC had contracted for sufficient gas, but it will continue to be the case until they do so.” The Court of Arbitration heard despite the NGC’s previous assurances that curtailments would not be an issue going into 2014, the gas supply in early January was five to ten per cent below DCQ levels, and the NGC issued a force majeure notice on January 5, 2014. Cassidy said, “The average supply reduction in January was even greater—8.7 per cent below DCQ levels. Yet, based on a presentation, the NGC gave to the Point Lisas Energy Association (“PLEA”) in December 2013, management assumed that supply rates in 2014 would average just two per cent below DCQ levels.”
Clico's argument
Clico tried to counter this argument and sent in an expert witness in the former director of Resource Management at the Ministry of Energy Helena Innis King. She argued that there was no issue of T&T running out of gas nor a structural problem, but rather it was due to significant maintenance work that was being done by the country’s two largest gas producers, bpTT and BG.
Innis King opined, “There are no grounds for concern that the gas is running out.” Innis King’s suggestion that it was due to maintenance issues is in keeping with what Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine consistently told the country prior to 2014, but which bpTT itself is now denying is the root cause of the problem. The company argued that the 2008 global economic crisis, unfavourable fiscal environment and the expectation by the National Gas Company and the National Energy Company that an oversupply of gas was likely due to the cancellation of downstream projects created uncertainty which invariably affected investment decisions.
BPTT said its heightened maintenance activity that took place following the Macondo disaster was necessary to ensure continued safe and reliable operations and while it did contributed to the current gas curtailments, it is not the primary factor. The issue of gas shortages at Point Lisas has also set off a firestorm with Ramnarine accusing the Point Lisas Energy Association of politicising the issue. Cassidy also told the International Court of Arbitration that last year alone, MHTL lost 410,000 metric tonnes of production. “These are not only metric tonnes MHTL cannot sell, but also about US $70 million worth of gas it does not pay to the NGC. Thus, everyone in the value chain suffers as a result.” He also said MHTL was not as profitable as is suspected because of the escalation agreement with the NGC where the higher the methanol price, the higher the price of gas the NGC sells to MHTL.
Cassidy showed that in 2005 to 2008 methanol prices were projected by MHTL’s management to average US $186, which was consistent with recent history. But the average actual price for that period turned out to be US $383 per tonne. “The difference between projected and actual profits after tax for these periods is explained by (1) the structure of the gas contracts and (2) the economic downturn. For the period of 2004 to 2008, forecast profits were US $171 million while actual profits were US$208 million—a difference of only 22 per cent, despite a 106 per cent increase in prices. This is due to the structure of MHTL’s gas contracts with the NGC.” Cassidy said.
Cassidy acknowledged that the present low gas prices in the US was likely to increase, but he said it would do so minimally and would continue to be a threat to T&T downstream sector.
Innis King rubbished that argument saying, “Notwithstanding developments in Shale gas in the US, Trinidad’s gas industry has a strong future: given the difficulties of developing Shale gas resources, the US Shale gas industry is unlikely to have a real competitive advantage over Trinidad, whose gas reserves are, by contrast, far easier to develop.” CEL has been the minority shareholder in MHTL and the German group has been Clico’s partner including marketing and selling its methanol since its inception. The NGC gave to the Point Lisas Energy Association (“PLEA”) in December 2013, management assumed that supply rates in 2014 would average just two per cent below DCQ levels.”
Clico's argument
Clico tried to counter this argument and sent in an expert witness in the former director of Resource Management at the Ministry of Energy Helena Innis King. She argued that there was no issue of T&T running out of gas nor a structural problem, but rather it was due to significant maintenance work that was being done by the country’s two largest gas producers, bpTT and BG.
Innis King opined, “There are no grounds for concern that the gas is running out.” Innis King’s suggestion that it was due to maintenance issues is in keeping with what Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine consistently told the country prior to 2014, but which bpTT itself is now denying is the root cause of the problem.
The company argued that the 2008 global economic crisis, unfavourable fiscal environment and the expectation by the National Gas Company and the National Energy Company that an oversupply of gas was likely due to the cancellation of downstream projects created uncertainty which invariably affected investment decisions. BPTT said its heightened maintenance activity that took place following the Macondo disaster was necessary to ensure continued safe and reliable operations and while it did contributed to the current gas curtailments, it is not the primary factor. The issue of gas shortages at Point Lisas has also set off a firestorm with Ramnarine accusing the Point Lisas Energy Association of politicising the issue. Cassidy also told the International Court of Arbitration that last year alone, MHTL lost 410,000 metric tonnes of production. “These are not only metric tonnes MHTL cannot sell, but also about US $70 million worth of gas it does not pay to the NGC. Thus, everyone in the value chain suffers as a result.”
He also said MHTL was not as profitable as is suspected because of the escalation agreement with the NGC where the higher the methanol price, the higher the price of gas the NGC sells to MHTL. Cassidy showed that in 2005 to 2008 methanol prices were projected by MHTL’s management to average US $186, which was consistent with recent history. But the average actual price for that period turned out to be US $383 per tonne. “The difference between projected and actual profits after tax for these periods is explained by (1) the structure of the gas contracts and (2) the economic downturn. For the period of 2004 to 2008, forecast profits were US $171 million while actual profits were US$208 million—a difference of only 22 per cent, despite a 106 per cent increase in prices. This is due to the structure of MHTL’s gas contracts with the NGC.” Cassidy said.
Cassidy acknowledged that the present low gas prices in the US was likely to increase, but he said it would do so minimally and would continue to be a threat to T&T downstream sector.
Innis King rubbished that argument saying, “Notwithstanding developments in Shale gas in the US, Trinidad’s gas industry has a strong future: given the difficulties of developing Shale gas resources, the US Shale gas industry is unlikely to have a real competitive advantage over Trinidad, whose gas reserves are, by contrast, far easier to develop.” CEL has been the minority shareholder in MHTL and the German group has been Clico’s partner including marketing and selling its methanol since its inception.
Energy Minister: Reserve hike coming
Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine yesterday said he could not comment on what Proman or their legal representatives have said at the arbitration hearing. In an e-mail exchange with the Sunday Guardian, Ramnarine said the valuation of any asset is based on a range of assumptions of probabilistic variables. “On the issue of curtailments, this matter has been well ventilated in the public domain. I have spoken on it several times, and I will do so again. The facts are that firstly there was a period of underinvestment by major upstream companies in the period 2008 to 2010 that has led us to where we are today,” Ramnarine said.
He cited the Central Bank study for that period to support his claim. “It is also reflected in public statements by major multi-national companies and is the principal reason that we have experienced the disruptions in supply,” he said. Ramnarine also said that there was a period of “major asset maintenance conducted by BP and BG that has caused disruptions in supply.”
“This is a consequence of companies placing a higher emphasis on safety in a post Macondo world,” he said. Ramnarine said in response to those consequences, the Government has re-engineered the fiscal regime which managed upstream objectives. “This has resulted in record levels of investment in the period 2011 to 2014. As I have indicated previously, the projected investments by energy companies, based on their submissions to the MEEA, is expected to be US$3bn per year over the next three years.”
He said added to that, the recent approval by BP of the Juniper project and the approval by BG of the Starfish development in 2012 (due to be online in November 2014) are “positive signs that the country’s two major natural gas suppliers are responding to improve natural gas supply.” “Consequently, we expect to see improvements in reserves and output in the near to medium term.
Ramnarine said in the last three years the Ministry of Energy has co-ordinated the supply-demand balance to mitigate the impact of curtailments on Point Lisas and Atlantic. “In this effort we have worked and will continue to work with all stakeholders,” he said.
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