Above: Tobago (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Could Tobago soon become a “major energy player?”

That’s the view held by Victor Hart, chairman of the Steering Committee of the Trinidad and Tobago Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

Hart said that the country’s central government is collecting significant revenue from energy giant Centrica, which conducted deep water exploration for natural gas north of the town of Charlotteville.

“What is good for the future of Tobago is that it is on the cusp of becoming a major energy player in the future,” Hart said. “we could find over the next decade a shift in emphasis in production in Trinidad and off Pt Galeota, for instance, into greater production off the coast of Tobago. So, Tobago is really on the verge of becoming a major player if the projections of very good finds materialize.”

The hope for the future is to generate “major revenue” from offshore reserves in Tobago, Hart said.

“We could find over the next decade a shift in emphasis in production in Trinidad and off Pt Galeota, for instance, into greater production off the coast of Tobago,” he said.

In 2012 and 2013, the government has awarded deep-water contracts to both BP and BHP Billiton off the coast of Speyside, along with the continued operations of Centrica off Charlotteville.