Trotman no longer in control of oil portfolio

It’s official. With effect from August 1st, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman is no longer in control of the oil portfolio following the establishment of the Department of Energy (DoE).

According to the Official Gazette of August 2nd, petroleum has been deleted from his matters of responsibility. The August 2nd gazette also indicated that the Ministry of Natural Resources was deleted from his portfolio, although government yesterday assured that he still retains the portfolio.

The Ministry of the Presidency, in a statement issued yesterday in response to an erroneous online report published by Stabroek News, under the headline ‘Trotman no longer Minister of Natural Resources,’ said the establishment of the DoE does not take away from the Minister’s responsibilities. “The DoE has only resulted in the Petroleum Division being shifted from the Ministry of Natural Resources to the Department under the Ministry of the Presidency. All responsibilities for the natural resources sector including the gold and diamond mining, logging and forestry industries, among others remain with Minister Trotman,” it noted.

Minister of State Joseph Harmon now has responsibility for petroleum and the DoE.

Trotman had revealed that he was giving up responsibility for the petroleum sector earlier this year, when he announced that the DoE would be formed.

Both Trotman and government denied that the plan to establish a DoE to oversee