Govt looking at better energy deal with China

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Government will explore energy market expansion with the Chinese delegation which arrives in T&T tomorrow, Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine has said. Speaking at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing, Ramnarine acknowledged T&T will have to seek new markets for energy products since its main customer, the United States, projects energy self-sufficiency by 2020 and has boasted of enough shale oil supply to “last 100 years.” The 280-strong Chinese delegation, led by China’s President Xi Jinping, arrives in T&T tomorrow night and will spend Saturday touring projects, including the children’s hospital construction site, before leaving on Sunday. The Chinese delegation arrival comes on the heels of a visit by US Vice-President Joe Biden earlier this week. At yesterday’s post-Cabinet briefing, Ramnarine said the price of natural gas in China was three times the price in the US. He said T&T had already supplied four cargoes of liquefied natural gas to China and this was increased recently to five. “We expect this will increase,” he added. He said the expansion of the Panama Canal would also facilitate supply flows between T&T and China.