Page 38: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Sep/Oct 2025)

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DISCOVERY TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Credit: Ministry of Energy & Energy Industries, GoRTT [R to L]: Minister in the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Hon. Ernesto Kesar, M.P. alongside ExxonMobil V.P. John Ardill, with The Hon. Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago

Kamla Persad-Bissessar, S.C., M.P., and Minister of Energy Hon. Roodal Moonilal, M.P.

This fagship initiative by the late popularist President metric tonnes per annum (tpa) LNG trains have been con-

Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías provided discounted oil and sistently running below their engineered capacity. Projects preferential payment terms to seventeen (17) Caribbean near the Venezuelan maritime border such as the Dragon and Central American nations, allowing them to pay up to and Cocuina-Manakin offshore gas felds represent critical 25-years at a low interest rate, with fexibility to also settle opportunities to stabilize declining output, but are vulner- through goods and services. able to current diplomatic rifts.

In this climate, the presence of U.S. Navy warships in the southern Caribbean are increasingly regarded as vital

GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY RETURNS: for de-escalating regional tensions, deterring military pos-

ENERGY AND THE RISK OF CONFLICT

Southern Caribbean energy production is at the heart of turing, and safeguarding critical ultra-deepwater oil and a growing geopolitical storm. Guyana’s offshore oil boom gas infrastructure. Without such stabilizing measures, the already surpassing 900,000 b/d with ExxonMobil’s ONE region known as a ‘Zone of Peace’ by CARICOM mem-

GUYANA Floating Production Storage Offoading ship. bers risks seeing its energy lifelines transformed in fash-

Overall total output is projected to reach 1.7 million b/d points of confict, undermining both regional economies by 2030 has reshaped the regional energy landscape. This and global oil and gas security. rapid rise has made Guyana one of the world’s fastest- growing oil exporters, drawing in massive foreign invest-

FORGING STRONG BILATERAL TIES: ment while simultaneously escalating tensions with Ven-

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO AND THE

UNITED STATES ezuela, which claims sovereignty over the Essequibo region and its adjoining waters. Offshore production ships, sub- The United States Department of State’s Bureau of sea umbilical pipelines and maritime shipping lanes have Overseas Building Operations (OBO), in partnership become strategic assets and potential targets in a dispute with the U.S. embassy in Trinidad and Tobago, has just that risks destabilizing the Caribbean. announced the start of construction on the new US$400

For Trinidad and Tobago the stakes are equally press- million embassy in Port of Spain. Set on an 11-acre site ing, where its 117-years energy sector comprises eighty acquired in 2023, this facility is expected to be one of percent (80%) of export revenues in fscal 2023/24 and is the largest and most secure U.S. diplomatic compounds now more than ever heavily reliant on offshore gas, as sev- in the Western Hemisphere. This signifcant investment eral locally-based Methanol, Ammonia and the 15 million underscores Washington’s commitment to its diplomatic 38 OFFSHORE ENGINEER OEDIGITAL.COM