Dear Editor,
The recent report on Kiskadee Watch detailing Canadian fertilizer giant Nutrien’s decision to indefinitely shutter its nitrogen operations in Trinidad, placing more than 300 skilled jobs on the line, is a sobering reminder of the shifting energy landscape in the Caribbean. Yet, behind Trinidad’s industrial setback lies a powerful, time-sensitive strategic opening for Guyana.
At its core, Trinidad’s crisis is not a failure of market demand or engineering capability, but a direct consequence of domestic natural gas shortages. Natural gas is the primary feedstock needed to manufacture ammonia and urea fertilizers. Point Lisas has the physical plant capacity but lacks the gas to feed it. Guyana, on the other hand, stands at the threshold of a new energy era, with our Gas-to-Energy initiative and vast offshore reserves promising an abundance of gas without the downstream facilities to fully utilize it.
Rather than letting this specialized infrastructure gather rust, Guyana, whether through government action or a regional private-sector consortium, should move aggressively to negotiate the acquisition or relocation of these decommissioned Point Lisas assets.
The economic logic for Guyana is immediate and compelling. Constructing a modern chemical processing facility from scratch demands years of environmental permitting, massive capital expenditure, and lengthy construction delays. Acquiring existing, high-capacity machinery slashes both the capital hurdle and the lead time needed to establish domestic downstream manufacturing.
More importantly, bringing fertilizer production home directly aligns with Guyana’s ambition to serve as the agricultural breadbasket of the region. High input costs for nitrogen fertilizers remain one of the biggest burdens on local rice, sugar, and crop farmers. Producing our own fertilizer using domestic natural gas would insulate local agriculture from volatile global commodity markets, lower food production costs, and give real momentum to CARICOM’s food security agenda.
Crucially, this is also an opportunity to anchor regional talent. The plant engineers, process technicians, and operators in Trinidad represent decades of specialized industrial knowledge. By creating a new home for these operations in Guyana, we can absorb this skilled workforce, prevent a damaging brain drain from the region, and accelerate the technical training of our own young Guyanese workforce.
Trinidad’s industrial downturn offers a clear lesson for our own economic planning: raw natural gas should not merely be used for electricity or exported as a basic commodity. It should be converted into high-value chemical products that build long-term industrial strength. By turning Trinidad’s point of friction into Guyana’s next industrial stepping stone, we can secure both our energy future and our agricultural independence.
Sincerely,
Keith Bernard
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