Curtis Williams
OGJ Correspondent
PORT OF SPAIN, Aug. 24 -- Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning reported during his 2007-08 budget presentation that the Caribbean island nation next year will offer incentives to major oil and gas companies to explore for hydrocarbons in marginal fields.
Commenting on the recent Ryder Scott natural gas audit that showed Trinidad and Tobago's production hitting a plateau in about 9 years, Manning said, "What is needed now is a new fiscal regime of incentives to stimulate further drilling in the Deep Marine areas of East Coast, marginal fields, heavy oil, and farm-in, farm-out arrangements."
He added, "We confidently expect…new discoveries of oil and gas and the preservation of Trinidad and Tobago's position as an industrial center in the region."
During a recent energy conference in Port of Spain, the major oil and gas companies asked the Trinidad and Tobago government to review its taxation regime in high risk areas like its deepwater blocks.
