Trinidad and Tobago EITI Report 2016
Chair, TTEITI Secretariat
Victor Hart is a retired UK trained chartered quantity surveyor and project manger and the recipient of a Trinidad and Tobago National Award, the Humming Bird Medal Silver, for his work in fighting corruption and in bringing greater transparency and accountability to the country's energy sector. He previously served as a director on the Board of EITI International and was also Chair of the TTEITI Steering Committee from 2010 to 2019.
This Report contains a reconciliation of payments made by extractive companies against Government receipts for the fiscal year 2016. The reconciliation reveals that a total of TT$8,664.43 million was generated by the 43 upstream oil and gas companies involved in this exercise. This represents 99.4% of all revenue generated from the upstream sector. Importantly, the payments of companies involved only in the exploration and production of oil and gas are reconciled. Five mining companies also participated and contributed a reconciled total of TT$13,345,199 million in payments.
Key Takeaways
- This report is the second one that records data from the mining sector.
- Government has publicly committed to establishing a national Beneficial Ownership Register to promote company transparency.
- TTEITI plans to introduce contract and licences transparency after full stakeholder consultations.
Welcome to Trinidad and Tobago’s fifth annual Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Report that covers Government’s fiscal year 2016. The previous reports covered fiscal years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Readers of the earlier reports will notice that the current report includes additional information.
This is because the EITI as a dynamic initiative is responding to the international movement’s evolving challenges and needs with changes that are being reflected in the current report and will be expanded further in future reports.
The findings of this report, when combined with those of the four earlier EITI Reports, show that, to date, the Independent Administrator/Auditor has audited an aggregate of approximately $123 Billion in payments from extractive companies and receipts by Government and found a total of $866 Million in discrepancies (0.07%) all of which have been satisfactorily reconciled.
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The conclusion that can be drawn is that the checks and balances in the system are working and all can be satisfied that Trinidad and Tobago is achieving revenue transparency and accountability at the level of the award of exploration and production contracts and licences and the honouring of revenue payment commitments by extractive companies to Government.
It is for this reason that the TTEITI Steering Committee and Secretariat are expanding their focus beyond revenue transparency to other areas that are supportive of the primary goal of promoting transparency and accountability in the exploitation of the country’s natural resources.
Examples of the expanding focus that are being pursued and some of which are reflected in this report:
More environmental impact issues in the EITI Report
More Mining Sector company revenues in the EITI Report
Midstream and downstream energy companies to be included in the EITI reporting process
Beneficial Ownership disclosure
Transfer Pricing disclosure
Commodity Trading disclosure
Mainstreaming the EITI in Government and company systems
EITI Legislation to embed the EITI in the country’s legal framework
Internationally, the EITI remains a voluntary coalition of the stakeholders (Governments, extractive companies and civil society) engaged in the exploration and monetisation of natural resources.
Under the initiative, the three stakeholder groups work together to improve openness about and accountable management of the revenues earned from the extractive sector.
Its practices are recognised as the global gold standard for transparency and accountability in the management of extractive industries (primarily oil, gas and mining). The EITI is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, and the initiative is currently being implemented in 51 countries worldwide (www.eiti.org). In the last year, Suriname and Guyana became members of the EITI thus, with Trinidad and Tobago, increasing the CARICOM membership to three countries.
The publication of this report is another milestone in an ongoing national journey that began on 9 September 2010 when Trinidad and Tobago’s Cabinet took a decision to reaffirm the country’s commitment to the EITI Principles and to seek membership in the international initiative.
On 8 December 2010, a Multi-Stakeholder Group Steering Committee comprising Government, companies and civil society was established under my chairmanship to oversee EITI implementation.
On 1 March 2011, Trinidad and Tobago was admitted to EITI membership with Candidate Country status. On 23 January 2015, the country, having been judged to have met all the requirements of the EITI Standard, was elevated to EITI Compliant Country status, the highest membership level, and is today one of 31 countries so designated.
This report is the second one that (a) records data from the Mining Sector and (b) carries a reference and a web link to the first Beneficial Ownership Register of energy companies that is published on the TTEITI website.
Government has publicly committed to establishing a national Beneficial Ownership Register to promote company transparency and be a disincentive to corruption.
The TTEITI Steering Committee has presented Government with a copy of a study it commissioned to help guide Government’s commitment to mandatory beneficial ownership disclosure by all companies operating in Trinidad and Tobago.
Today, Trinidad and Tobago’s civil society is recognising that the country’s natural resources belong to the people. Therefore, the data in this report is of critical importance because citizens can learn in detail, in a single document, how the revenues earned from their resources are generated and in what amounts.
Section 3, Overview of the Extractive Industries in Trinidad and Tobago, is informative in describing the extractive sectors and provides context for the financial data that follows.
Future reports will be even more helpful because stakeholders will be more familiar with the process and additional useful information will be provided as the EITI moves beyond revenue transparency to accountability of how the revenue is spent.
There are also plans to introduce contract and licences transparency after full stakeholder consultations. The aim is to empower citizens further with the knowledge to participate meaningfully in the management of the country’s natural resources, which they own, and to hold Government and companies accountable for how the revenues are generated and spent.
Without a doubt, the EITI provides Trinidad and Tobago with a collaborative mechanism for developing and consolidating transparency and accountability in the nation’s oil, gas and mining sectors.
Also, it facilitates greater citizen participation in the country’s governance thus creating a more participatory democracy.
The EITI protects the people’s patrimony and our children’s inheritance derived from the wealth of the country’s natural resources. Therefore, in your selfinterest, I urge you to get to know the EITI better and to give it your full support.
On behalf of the Steering Committee and Secretariat, I wish to acknowledge with thanks the roles played by the stakeholders — Government, companies and civil society — in guiding EITI implementation over the last year and in producing this report.
In particular, I recognise the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries (MEEI) and the Ministry of Finance’s Board of Inland Revenue and Investment Division for their contributions.
Also, I recognise the EITI Independent Administrator, BDO Trinity Limited, supported by Hart Nurse Limited, for their professionalism in conducting the surveys and reporting on their findings in the five EITI Reports we have published to date.
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