{"id":258144,"date":"2025-11-12T05:50:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T05:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/258144\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T05:50:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T05:50:14","slug":"moonilal-energy-decline-halted-oil-output-up-5-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/258144\/","title":{"rendered":"Moonilal: Energy ‘decline’ halted, oil output up 5.5%"},"content":{"rendered":"

\tNews<\/a><\/p>\n

\t
\n\t\tAndrew Gioannetti
\n\t<\/a><\/p>\n

13 Hrs Ago<\/p>\n

\"EnergyEnergy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal, centre, tries on a hard hat at the BLISS booth during Amcham TT’s HSSE Conference at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Port of Spain, on November 11. Also in the photo are QHSE lead at BLISS Clarianne Boodram, left, and Amcham TT president Anna Henderson. – Photo by Ayanna Kinsale<\/p>\n

ENERGY Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal says Trinidad and Tobago has reported a rise in oil and gas production, claiming renewed investor confidence, notably with the apparent return of ExxonMobil after more than two decades.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the American Chamber of Commerce TT\u2019s Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) Conference at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Port of Spain, on November 11, Moonilal announced a 5.5 per cent rise in output from 52,357 barrels per day in April to 55,271 barrels per day in October, and an increase of natural gas production from 2.41 to 2.63 billion cubic feet per day between April and June.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter ten years of decline in the energy sector, I am pleased to report that we have stopped this decline,\u201d he told the audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are moving steadily in the right direction. While (US) President Donald Trump exalts his industry to \u2018drill, baby, drill,\u2019 in TT we say, \u2018keep it pumping!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Moonilal said the new UNC administration has made aggressive policy interventions and fast-tracked negotiations that have reignited exploration activity and strengthened investor trust.<\/p>\n

He cited the government\u2019s success in finalising ExxonMobil\u2019s re-entry, which the company described as achieving \u201cthe gold standard for the pace of negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn six short months, we have been able to negotiate the return of energy giant ExxonMobil after 22 years away from TT,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that time, we have redrawn the (national) energy map.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exxon\u2019s comeback, he added, marks the beginning of a new deep-water phase for TT\u2019s upstream industry.<\/p>\n

Production levels, however, remain well below historical highs. Sustained growth will depend on the successful execution of new exploration projects, regulatory stability, and market conditions.<\/p>\n

On November 6, Norwegian consultancy Rystad Energy reported that ExxonMobil\u2019s ultra-deepwater campaign \u2013 spanning 7,765 square kilometres in the Eastern Tobago Basin \u2013 could unlock more than US$20 billion in potential investment.<\/p>\n

The project targets one of the Caribbean\u2019s least-explored frontiers at depths exceeding 2,000 metres, mirroring the exploration model that delivered major discoveries in Guyana\u2019s Stabroek Block.<\/p>\n

Moonilal framed the development as a signal that TT\u2019s energy reputation is regaining international weight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are bringing change with optimism and hope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd with that optimism will come results.\u201d<\/p>\n

The minister also noted that his ministry has advanced talks with Shell on the Manatee Plus project to boost gas production and secured a new Office of Foreign Assets Control licence from the United States to facilitate work on the Dragon gas field in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

On October 27, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro suspended all energy deals with TT, claiming this country has sided with the US in an aggressive campaign against the South Americans.<\/p>\n

Moonilal added, \u201cAfter years of contraction, the data now shows that we are once again moving in the right direction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge ahead is to maintain the pace \u2013 and keep it pumping.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"News Andrew Gioannetti 13 Hrs Ago Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal, centre, tries on a hard hat at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-258144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}