Intra Caribbean pipeline scheme confirmed as viable

A feasibility study has confirmed that the Intra Caribbean natural gas pipeline project is both technically and commercially viable.

Oct. 4, 2004

2 min read

Curtis Williams
OGJ correspondent

PORT OF SPAIN, Oct. 4 -- A feasibility study has confirmed that the Intra Caribbean natural gas pipeline project is both technically and commercially viable.

Trevor Boopsingh, chairman of Eastern Gas Pipeline Co. Ltd. (EGPC), said plans are proceeding for the construction of the facility, which will allow Trinidad and Tobago to deliver gas to seven islands in the Eastern Caribbean—Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent—beginning in 2007.

Because the gas for the project will be produced off Trinidad and Tobago, Boopsingh said the feasibility study has been reviewed by National Gas Co. Ltd. and has been presented to the Trinidad and Tobago government standing energy committee.

The study's results now will be reviewed with potential customers and governmental authorities in the seven islands as well as France over the next several weeks.

Construction of the pipeline is expected to cost $700 million.

Pipeline proposal
Two years ago Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning had proposed construction of the pipeline, which he said would reduce energy costs and stimulate development in the Caribbean islands.

Since then Venezuela President Hugo Chavez has asked that his country join with Trinidad and Tobago in building a pipeline that would not only serve the Eastern Caribbean but also go north as far as Miami with offshoots to Jamaica and Cuba.

Manning told OGJ that the decision to build the pipeline from Trinidad and Tobago to the Eastern Caribbean did not mean the Venezuela initiative was dead.

"We never intended to link the two projects. The Venezuela project is far too difficult to undertake in a short timeframe, and we intend to provide gas to the region in the shortest possible time, as early as 2007," he said. "This [project] has been driven by the private sector, but it is becoming apparent that the government of Trinidad and Tobago may have to intervene in order to make it happen quickly."

Sources say that a little more than 100 MMcfd of gas will be required and that EOG Resources Inc., Houston, has offered to provide the gas and has demonstrated the ability to do so.