Business View Caribbean - May 2015 65
BUSINESS VIEW: Can you talk about the importance
of the energy sector in Trinidad? At what point did it
become such a significant factor and what was the
turning point? What put Trinidad and Tobago on the
map as far as energy goes?
DRIVER:
Trinidad & Tobago has been on the global
map for energy for well over 100 years. Trinidad & To-
bago has been a key country within the hydrocarbons
industry since the beginning of the 20th century. We
have one of the oldest oil industries in the world. Trini-
dad was first put on the map in the hydrocarbons sec-
tor because we were the first British colony who had
significant oil deposits and significant oil production
and therefore important to the British government and
especially the British Navy. During and after the Sec-
ond World War we had major American bases here be-
cause we had a big oil refinery which was important to
the Allied war effort. Trinidad is a major LNG exporter
and we’re also a major exporter of methanol and am-
monia, two chemicals using gas as their feedstock. So
Trinidad & Tobago has always been important in the
international oil industry and more recently in the gas
industry.
BUSINESS VIEW: The observation has been made
that a lot of the rig operators from around the world
are actually from Trinidad and Tobago – is that some-
thing you see from your viewpoint as well? And why
do you think that is?
DRIVER:
Trinidad has had a great history of really
great technical training in the oil and gas industry, so
we have really strong technicians. Trinidad is a small
country with a quite diverse hydrocarbon sector – on-
shore production, offshore production, different types
of formulations of oil and gas, so people quickly gain
a lot of experience in different operating environ-
ments, which makes them very sought after every-
where around the world. And we’re English speaking;
we don’t have any issues around political alignment,
geo-politics, which some other countries do. And we
have also the University of the West Indies, which has
had a strong history of producing very competent en-
gineers and geologists. And we now also have a Uni-
versity of Trinidad and Tobago, which is also producing
engineers. So we have that strong history and you’ll
find Trinidadian everywhere in the oil and gas industry.
BUSINESS VIEW: Now, in the country itself, there
seem to be a lot of energy-related employees like
consultants – it seems that’s where a lot of people
have decided to station themselves. Is there a con-
cern at all that there comes a point when it’s over-
saturated? Or is there still enough room for every-
body?
DRIVER:
Because we have people that are leaving to
work internationally in the industry, we actually still
suffer from some skills shortages in Trinidad. In the
upstream sector there was a period of time around the
world when there was an underinvestment in training
in the hydrocarbons sector – really from the mid-80s
to the late 1990s. What that has meant is that the
workforce in the global oil and gas industry has a lot of
very experienced older people and some good young
people, but there’s a sort of soft middle, and filling
that skills gap is a global issue in the global petroleum
industry. And that also affects Trinidad, so we do have
missing mid-career people. There’s still a huge de-
mand for new people and because it’s a global indus-
try, there’s a global demand. So as fast as you train
people and get them experience, they all find work.
BUSINESS VIEW: Can you talk to me about sustain-
ability? Is that a conversation that people in the in-
dustry are welcoming to have, or is that one of those
words you just don’t mention?
DRIVER:
No, obviously, we are very concerned about
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