CAPITAL: Port of Spain

MONETARY UNIT: Dollar

REFINING CAPACITY: 160,000 b/cd

PRODUCTION: 120,800 b/d

OIL RESERVES: 534 million bbl

GAS RESERVES: 18,297 bcf

Trinidad and Tobago escaped much of the grief resulting from low crude oil prices because of the foreign investment it had attracted to tap its vast natural gas resources. The country was about to become a leading world exporter of LNG, ammonia, and methanol.

Construction of the 3 million metric ton/year Atlantic LNG Co. liquefaction plant at Point Fortin was on target for start-up in early 1999. Shipments were destined for Puerto Rico, the eastern U.S., and Spain. Talks were under way for a second train.

More large discoveries, primarily gas, fed E&P growth in 1998. They included large offshore discoveries such as BG and Texaco`s Starfish 1.7 tcf gas find and Enron`s 600 bcf-1 tcf Omega gas find in the Columbus basin.

BG, Agip, and Veba (Deminex) disclosed the drilling in 1997 of two successful exploration wells to further define Hibiscus gas field on the NCMA-1 Block north of Port of Spain.

Trinmar said it was producing about 37,000 b/d of oil and 29 MMcfd of gas in 1998 from established fields in the Gulf of Paria.

Transportation

Amoco and Repsol of Spain agreed to form a strategic alliance to supply natural gas markets in Latin America and Spain.

Supply would stem from a second train proposed for the Point Fortin LNG plant. The alliance also involved agreement by Repsol to buy almost 5 million metric tons/year of LNG for 20 years from Trinidad and Tobago in addition to volumes previously contracted.

Amoco was to supply all of the gas for the plant`s first train and was well positioned to supply feed to any further trains, having discovered 11 tcf the preceding 4 years.