The South Trinidad Chamber of Industry and Commerce (STCIC) was contracted by the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) to conduct an assessment of the energy services sector in selected CARIFORUM countries, with the underlying objective of making recommendations for how the sector could contribute to overall economic development and the trade negotiating agenda that should be pursued in support of this development.

The assessment outlines some important features of the international energy services sector and how these impact on the energy services sector in the Caribbean region. Many of the trends apparent within the energy services sector internationally are also apparent within the region. In many cases these trends tend to favour the bigger well established international services companies, especially in the lucrative upstream energy services sector. Nevertheless, there are also business opportunities created by for example the increased liberalisation of power generation and the increased emphasis on renewable sources of energy.

The assessment considers the major areas of demand for energy services within the region and the capacity of the regional private-sector to meet this demand. The assessments has indicated that within the region, the energy services sector has tended not to be considered as a sector for priority in economic planning and development activities, or in international and regional trade negotiations. This is the case even in Trinidad & Tobago, where the energy services sector comprises a significant sector of the economy, and where some energy services are currently being exported.