Global Energy Crisis… Caribbean Region must respond with aggressive pursuit of natural gas potential - Pres. Ali

Global Energy Crisis… Caribbean Region must respond with aggressive pursuit of natural gas potential – Pres. Ali

Jan 24, 2023 News

By Kiana Wilburg & Davina Bagot (reporting from Trinidad and Tobago)

Kaieteur News – With the Russia-Ukraine war now in its second year and fears of the COVID-19 pandemic yet to dissipate, world leaders have stressed the need for greater efforts to ensure energy and food security. It is with this understanding in mind that President, Dr. Irfaan Ali categorically stated yesterday that nations within the region must be allowed to aggressively explore their gas potential.

Ali shared this perspective as part of his presentation at Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Conference 2023 at the Hyatt Hotel held under the theme: ‘Navigating a complex energy future’.

Ali said, “The world is in the midst of a global energy crisis, a global food crisis and a global climate crisis but at the center of all of these crises lies energy because energy is the backbone through which everything revolves…Whilst this crisis is coming at us like a tsunami we’re seeing some strange movement…We have seen an unwillingness to lend to companies related to oil and gas. We have seen the cost of capital increasing for companies related to oil and gas.”

President Irfaan Ali at the Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Conference 2023 being held at the Hyatt Hotel

The Head of State alluded that all of this is happening at a time when there are certain interest groups which are telling developing nations to not bring on new oil and gas projects or not to pursue their respective exploration agendas. Ali believes, as he has said numerous times before, that this is an unfair ask. To cement his case, he pointed to statistics by the World Energy and Consumption Yearbook for 2021, which states that global energy consumption rebounded by 5% in 2021 as compared to the 4.5% fall in 2020. Ali said the global primary energy consumption for the year 2021 was 176,431 terawatt hours adding that the four main sources of the power consumed were oil at 29%, coal 24%, natural gas 22%, and hydropower 6%.

Ali said, “Now, let’s have the conversation as to how we first moved away from coal, the 25%. Why isn’t that conversation the priority? If coal is the worst form of energy, how do we transition? What is needed to make that first and immediate transition from coal, which is 25%? Where is that conversation?”

It was here that the Guyanese President reinforced his call for every country in the Region, with potential in natural gas, to be allowed to explore that potential to its fullest aggressively to ensure the energy security of this region. “Here in Trinidad and Tobago that opportunity exists and that opportunity should be allowed to blossom for the benefit of the people of this region and the globe,” expressed the Head of State.

The President further stressed the importance of the Region pursuing its gas potential as he highlighted the suffering that is taking place because of the prevailing energy crisis. He said this has resulted in higher electricity and transportation costs. Even consumable goods costs went up. Ali said, “It contributed painfully to high inflation…As political leaders and policymakers we have to face the reality of an inflation that is not as a result of bad policies or measures. But it’s inflation that is imported as a result of global conditions. This has pushed many families into poverty and food insecurity…”

Ali said the data show that the Latin American and Caribbean region is actually becoming the fastest food insecure region in the world, all due to the energy crisis.

In light of this, he said the region must have a holistic conversation on securing its energy requirements both in demand and supply. He said the conference must be a starting point for this.

The Head of State also called for there to be an outcome document from the conference which outlines how the region intends to respond to these global trends.

He said, “There should be an outcome document that feeds in, that must feed into the global system to tell the global system how the region is thinking, to tell the global system how the investors in energy in the region are viewing things.”

In closing, the President said it is up to the Region to develop its own thinking and show to the world how it wants to be positioned on the world stage.

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COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Irfaan Ali, Hyatt Hotel, President, Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Conference 2023

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