Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean’s largest producer of oil and natural gas, is attracting international investment following the privatization of its energy industry. Nine production sharing contracts have been signed over the past 2 years. Participating companies include Agip (Italy), Amoco (U.S.), BHP (Australia), British Gas (U.K.), Conoco (U.S.), Deminex (Germany), Elf Aquitaine (France), Enron (U.S.), Repsol (Spain), Talisman (Canada), and Texaco (U.S.). In addition, four deepwater blocks were awarded to foreign companies in July 1997.

Amoco is the country’s single largest producer of both crude oil and natural gas. The company has had a high success rate for natural gas from its exploration wells and plans to develop additional reserves to supply about 700 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) to Trinidad and Tobago’s state-owned National Gas Company (NGC). All current natural gas production comes from fields off the east coast. However, British Gas has verified reserves in a new natural gas province off the north coast. The company has an agreement to provide up to 275 MMcf/d for the national grid.

Trinidad and Tobago will begin exporting natural gas in the second half of 1999, when a $1 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant is scheduled to open at Point Fortin. The facility is being built by Atlantic LNG, a joint venture among Amoco (34%), British Gas (26%), Repsol (20%), Cabot (10%), and NGC (10%). The first train will process 425 MMcf/d of natural gas (to be supplied by Amoco and British Gas), allowing annual exports of up to 3 million metric tons of LNG. Cabot and Enagas, a subsidiary of Repsol, have 20-year contracts to purchase the LNG for markets in the northeastern United States and Spain, respectively. A second liquefaction train, which would serve the Puerto Rican market some time after 2000, is under consideration.

Trinidad and Tobago expects its energy industry to attract $4 billion in investments over the next 4 years, mainly for gas recovery and gas-based industries. Domestic natural gas consumption is projected to double by 2005. With domestic petroleum prices slated to be deregulated by 2002, the product distribution market will become more competitive as first local, and later foreign, companies are allowed to enter the domestic market.

Cuba. Cuba is seeking to boost its domestic oil production in response to severe energy shortages since the collapse of the Soviet Union, which put an end to barter arrangements under which the country had access to relatively inexpensive oil supplies. Most current production comes from fields discovered in the 1960s and 1970s, when state oil company Cubapetroleo (Cupet) conducted limited exploration. Refineries process mainly imported crude oil (primarily from Venezuela and Mexico). Some oil is imported under an oil-for-sugar arrangement whereby Cuba ships 1 million tons of sugar to Russia annually in exchange for Russian crude oil and petroleum products (the current agreement covers the period 1996-1998). Most domestic production consists of heavy oil whose sulfur content is so high that it could only be used for converted power and cement plants. Since 1993, the country has conducted two rounds of acreage sales, in which exploration rights to a total of 19 blocks have been awarded to foreign companies (mainly small Canadian firms). Canadian company Sherritt is also investing in a gas processing plant and a natural gas pipeline, which would boost supplies of natural gas for power plants. The United States imposes an economic embargo against Cuba, and oil companies from other countries may be subject to U.S. sanctions under the Helms-Burton Act of 1996.

Barbados. Barbados has announced plans to privatize its energy companies, including the Barbados National Oil Company and the National Petroleum Corporation. No timetable has been set.

Refining and Storage. Refining capacity in the Caribbean exceeds 1.8 million b/d. Smaller refineries are geared primarily to local demand, while the larger refineries in Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, and the U.S. Virgin Islands serve both local and export markets. The area also has independent petroleum storage facilities with the capacity to store nearly 47.5 million barrels of petroleum (nearly 19.4 million barrels of crude oil and 28.1 million barrels of petroleum products). As of October 1, 1997, these facilities held 15.3 million barrels (3.5 million barrels of crude oil and 11.8 million barrels of petroleum products). In September 1997, Venezuela’s state oil company (PdVSA) signed a 3-year contract to store up to 650,000 barrels of crude oil at the Petrotrin terminal in Trinidad and Tobago. Coastal is negotiating to buy storage space that it currently leases at the Wickland terminal to support its refinery in Aruba. In addition to long-term storage arrangements, these facilities offer logistical options for petroleum shipments. For example, Colombia’s state-owned oil company (Ecopetrol) leased storage space at the Borco terminal in the Bahamas to provide a supply cushion to its customers after a series of guerilla attacks interrupted production in fall of 1997.

Exports to the United States. In 1996, the United States imported over 0.5 million b/d of petroleum from the Caribbean, of which about 90 percent was petroleum products. The Virgin Islands was the largest single regional exporter to the United States (313,000 b/d of petroleum products), followed by Trinidad and Tobago (nearly 134,000 b/d), Netherlands Antilles (over 64,000 b/d), Puerto Rico (over 20,000 b/d), and the Bahamas (about 1,000 b/d). Trinidad and Tobago was the only supplier of crude oil from the region (over 58,000 b/d). Trade flow is primarily to the Gulf and East Coasts.