My name is Niran Persad. I have worked with Touchstone
Exploration (Trinidad) Limited, a Canadian-based, locally operating
oil and gas company, for the past 8 years as a Petroleum Engineer in
the Subsurface and Engineering Departments. Prior to this, I worked with the Ministry of Energy and
Energy Industries as an Associate Professional in Chemical Engineering, within the Downstream Gas
Utilization Group, and as a Petroleum Operations Engineer, within the Contract Management Division.
Alongside my primary engineering responsibilities, I have worked on several environmentally sensitive
projects, over the years. In my current post, I am engaged in projects involving the quantification of
produced-gas emissions from the company’s crude oil assets and evaluation and proposal of feasible
solutions to minimize these emissions by finding alternative uses for the vented gas. In my previous post
at the Ministry of Energy, I participated in the formulation of the National Hydrocarbon Oil Spill
Contingency Plan, which ultimately formed the official policy of the Government to address different
tiers of unplanned hydrocarbon releases within the local jurisdiction.
I am the holder of an MBA (Finance Specialization), with Distinction, from the University of the West
Indies-Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business, an M.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering, with Distinction,
and a B.Sc. in Chemical and Process Engineering, with Honours, both from the University of the West
Indies.