• Wednesday, 16 May, 2012

Trinmar stirring political waters

 15 December 2000 00:00 GMT

Old rivalries rising to the surface
TEXACO'S recent decision to divest its 33% stake in the Trinmar joint venture triggered some unseemly infighting in Trinidad's state-owned oil sector. Petrotrin used its pre-emption rights to turn Trinmar into a 100%-owned subsidiary in what Energy Minister Finbar Gangar stressed was a strictly business decision, based on current oil prices. However, there has since been evidence of a high-level split over Trinmar's future including some calls for the company to be spun off as an independent concern rather than absorbed into Petrotrin. As the decision was made shortly before an election, the Trinmar deal stirred up some political rivalries and triggered a boardroom struggle between the two companies. Away from the political arena, officials and consultants have been considering options for maximising the potential of Trinmar, which has so far existed as a non-asset holding operating company. Petrotrin has also been keen to prove that it is a state company in name alone and in practice is acting more like a private-sector animal. The company stresses that it enjoys few favours as it fights to win bite-sized slices of equity in offshore blocks such as Shell's 25(a) and BP's block 27. However, a glance at the map suggests that the Trinmar acquisition -- plus Petrotrin's recent bid on blocks 1(a) -- may point to a strategy of gathering the Gulf of Paria play into a single asset. Allan Russel, Petrotrin's new business manager, suggests ambitions are more modest. We put in the bid for 1(a) to enhance our own gas production in the Gulf and we believe the block has potential for a medium-sized oilfield, he said. Onshore, the company has been adopting a more administrative role, overseeing joint venture and leasing arrangements to reduce operating costs. Petrotrin has also been consolidating its position in the east coast zones of transition, where it is looking for joint venture partners to drill on structures already identified. The strategy, says Russel, includes targeting clusters of small oilfields and gas fields where alternative geological concepts can extract value. Ideally, we are looking for semi-developed fields in an established geological province, he said. Russel admits that Petrotrin will be riding the oil decline for the forseeable future, while the LNG play will be bouyant for 20 or 30 years. For this reason, we want to be more aggressive in entering the eastern gas play, he said.

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