PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP):

BP Trinidad and Tobago has pledged to continue investing heavily in natural gas exploration, dismissing a recent report that found the Caribbean nation's reserves will last only another dozen years.

The unit of London-based BP PLC will spend US$1 billion (euro740 million) on each of the next five years to find more gas, bpTT President, Robert Riley told a conference on Trinidad's energy resources.

"I am confident that if everything is done right, Trinidad has resources to last for another 50 years," he said Tuesday.

Trinidad, the second-largest energy producer on the Caribbean Sea after nearby Venezuela, is the leading supplier of liquid natural gas to the United States. The booming oil-and-gas economy accounts for 62 per cent of the country's national revenue.

An audit conducted by Houston-based consultants Ryder Scott found Trinidad and Tobago's natural gas reserves dropped over the last two years from 34 trillion cubic feet (963 billion cubic meters) to 30 trillion cubic feet (850 billion cubic meters).

But Energy Minister, Lenny Saith, who released the study Friday, said geological data indicate the presence of another 34 trillion cubic feet of unexplored natural gas beneath Trinidad and surrounding waters.

But several companies at the conference urged Trinidad to offer more generous tax incentives to promote exploration of deep and offshore wells.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning, who chaired the conference, said the national budget to be presented next week will include changes in the gas and oil taxation regime.

Taken from the Financial Gleaner, Friday August 17, 2007.