The Petro-state Masquerade: Oil, Sovereignty, and Power in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract: 

Since 1998, multinational oil and gas investments in Trinidad have increasingly concentrated in the deepwater sector. Characterized by protracted production cycles, deepwater ventures feature prohibitive costs and a comparatively low probability of success. After several deepwater ventures failed to yield substantive commercial quantities of oil or gas, the unfulfilled potential of a lucrative offshore geology is invoked to mitigate uncertainty and secure the long-term viability of the Trinbagonian energy sector. In their masquerade, state officials depict fossil fuels as inexhaustible resources waiting to be unearthed by multinational capital and novel extractive technologies.

Author: 
Ryan Cecil Jobson
Publication date: 
November 13, 2024
Publication type: 
CLACS YouTube Video