Above: Port of Spain (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The energy sector in Trinidad returned to positive growth in the last quarter of 2013, according to data from the country’s Central Bank.

The bank said the growth came following the September completion of “significant, coordinated maintenance works by the two major natural gas producers and the downstream industry.”

Natural gas output saw 8 percent growth compared to the third quarter, while methanol and ammonia production were up 20 percent and 11 percent quarter-over-quarter, the bank said.

“This rebound in the energy sector, coupled with the expected continued growth in the non-energy sector, suggests that the domestic economic recovery is continuing to gain traction,” the bank said in a statement.

While the country’s series of oil spills did lead to oil output, they “did not adversely affect production activity in the energy sector” last quarter, however.

“Notwithstanding the environmental effects of the oil spills in the Gulf of Paria which are yet to be fully assessed, the loss of output did not significantly affect activity in the oil sector,” the bank said.

Initial reports suggested the spill of nearly 7,500 barrels of oil, which is about 10 percent of the average daily oil production in the fourth quarter, the bank said.