On June 27th 2011, Senator Kevin Ramnarine was appointed the Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. At 39 years of age, Senator Ramnarine is one of the youngest Minister’s of Energy in the world. Prior to this, he held the office of Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs from May 2010 to June 2011.

Senator Ramnarine was born in 1972 and grew up in the village of Cumuto in East Trinidad. He attended the Guaico Presbyterian School where his mother served as the Principal for 17 years. He later attended Hillview College in Tunapuna. At Hillview, he developed a love for mathematics and the natural sciences.

This love for the sciences led him to the UWI at St. Augustine where he graduated with a B.Sc. degree in Chemistry in 1994. He also went on to read for and graduate with a M.Sc. degree in Petroleum Engineering from the UWI in 2002.

He would later work as an Energy Research Specialist at the South Trinidad Chamber of Industry and Commerce (now the Energy Chamber). In his time at the Energy Chamber he worked on a range of policy issues impacting the national energy sector including fiscal reform, natural gas reserves, local content, downstream development and the strengthening of the local energy services sector. During his years at the Energy Chamber he read for and graduated with an International MBA from the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business. This MBA degree was awarded with distinction in 2008.

Following his stint at the Energy Chamber he went to work with the country’s second largest producer of natural gas, BG T&T. At BG T&T, he worked as a Lead Economist for the East Coast Marine Area (ECMA) – one of the most prolific gas producing acreages in Trinidad and Tobago. His time at BG was extremely valuable to his professional development in terms of giving him an in-depth knowledge of the workings of a multi-national oil and gas company. At BG T&T, he was exposed to Production Sharing Contracts (PSC’s), natural gas pricing, project economics, production optimization, business planning, opportunity screening and determination of natural gas reserves.

While at BG, he continued his relationship with the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business. This time his role was not that of student but that of lecturer. As a part-time lecturer in the International MBA programme, he helped establish the “Energy Management Elective” which seeks to give students the opportunity to specialize their MBA degrees in line with the business skills requirements of the national energy sector. He lectured the MBA elective course “Overview of the Oil and Gas Industry”.

While serving as Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs, Senator Ramnarine served on the Standing Committee on Energy and the Public Sector Investment Programme Committee (PSIP).

Senator Ramnarine is married to Priya Rampersad-Ramnarine. His mother and father are retired from the teaching service and public service respectively. He has two siblings, one a teacher and the other a medical doctor. His interests include economic history, philosophy, strategy, international affairs and globalization.