Quick summary: Dr Priya Marajh ran the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago on an interim basis from March 2026. In that period she signed bilateral agreements with Guyana's Georgetown Chamber in Houston on 5 May and with the Suriname Energy Chamber in Paramaribo on 23 June. She was confirmed as President and Chief Executive Officer on 14 August 2026.
By La Caribeña News · 29 August 2026
An interim appointment is usually a holding pattern. The office keeps working, the diary keeps turning, and the substantive decisions wait for whoever gets the job.
Dr Priya Marajh did not run the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago that way.
She took over the Chamber's executive office in March 2026, after Dr Thackwray Driver's resignation took effect on 31 March. On 5 May, at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, she signed a memorandum of understanding with the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry on behalf of Trinidad. Kathy Smith signed for Guyana. Trinidad had by then been asking Guyana for hydrocarbons since February 2024 without a binding agreement between the two governments.
Seven weeks later she signed a second, in Paramaribo, with the other neighbour.
She was confirmed as President and Chief Executive Officer on 14 August 2026.
What did she sign with Guyana?
An agreement with four working areas.
The Energy Chamber lists them as advocating for the removal of trade barriers between the two countries, local content policy development and supply chain integration, energy transition and diversification, and technical exchanges on gas monetisation. The Georgetown Chamber's own list adds building the capacity of Guyanese businesses in the energy sector.
This newspaper set out the detail of both Guyana agreements on 17 August. The second, on 8 July 2026, was with the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, a different organisation. Karen Yip Chuck signed that one. Marajh attended.
Speaking to OilNOW on 6 May, she put the case in terms of the smaller members rather than the majors.
"We bring a lot of capabilities in terms of knowledge transfer. But I think what we're going to learn, and what's important for me with this MOU is the value added that it's going to bring to some of our smaller members and some of the partnerships that they're able to forge with members from GCCI."
What did she sign with Suriname?
A second bilateral agreement, seven weeks after the first.
On 23 June 2026, on day one of the Suriname Energy, Oil and Gas Summit in Paramaribo, Marajh signed a memorandum of understanding with the Suriname Energy Chamber. Orlando Olmberg, the Chamber's president, signed for Suriname. Suriname's Minister of Oil, Gas and Environment, Patrick Brunings, was present, with two Suriname Energy Chamber board members, Clyde Griffith and Janine Jadnanansing.
The memorandum covers institutional collaboration and energy-sector development, knowledge transfer, institutional strengthening and local-content capacity building, the development of regional policies, investment promotion and regional integration, and joint activities including events, research papers and consultations.
She put it, again, in terms of what the private sector keeps.
"This MOU with the Suriname Energy Chamber fosters the growth of private-sector firms in both countries and promotes the local content participation of our people and businesses. We believe that through cooperation, we can encourage stronger investment inflows and create an environment where the private sector can capitalize on the opportunities rapidly unfolding in our region."
The summit carried Suriname's own announcement. In her keynote, President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons said Petronas had made two further finds in Block 52: Caiman-1, which encountered oil-bearing sandstone, and SAC-1, which found gas. The block holds eight discoveries totalling more than a billion barrels of oil equivalent, and Petronas is fast-tracking its Sloanea-1 gas discovery there, with a final investment decision expected in the second half of 2026 and first gas targeted for 2030.
Who is she?
A lawyer and an international relations scholar who has been teaching for eighteen years.
Marajh holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London, and a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in international relations, both from the University of the West Indies. She has been a part-time lecturer at the University of the West Indies since 2008.
She came to the Chamber's top job from inside it, most recently as Vice President with responsibility for advocacy and membership engagement. Her stated experience covers local content development and social and economic policy development, alongside energy, international business development, diplomacy and international law.
What is her corporate record?
A board seat at a listed producer, held for four years.
Touchstone Exploration Inc lists Dr Priya Marajh among its directors, and the company's 2026 notice of annual and special meeting records her as a director since 11 July 2022. She stands again on the 2026 slate.
Touchstone is a Canadian company, listed in Toronto and London, operating onshore Trinidad. It holds the Ortoire, Cipero, Charuma and Rio Claro exploration blocks and, since May 2025, a sixty-five per cent working interest in the Central Block licence. It produces both crude and natural gas.
Touchstone announced on 18 December 2020 that it had executed a long-term natural gas sales agreement with the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago covering all future gas production from the Ortoire block. Its Coho field reached first gas in October 2022 and its Cascadura field began producing in September 2023, both selling under that agreement.
What was happening in the sector that month?
On 6 August, BP agreed to buy Woodside Energy's seventy per cent of Block TTDAA 14, taking the Calypso deepwater gas project to full ownership. On 13 August, Venezuela awarded BP, ADNOC's XRG and UCC Oil and Gas Holding the licence for Phase 2 of the Loran field, which shares a reservoir with Trinidad's Manatee across the maritime boundary. On 14 August, the Energy Chamber confirmed its new President and Chief Executive.
The gas on both sides of that boundary now sits inside an American licensing regime that names BP and Shell among six companies cleared to work Venezuela's oil and gas, requires disputes to be heard outside the region, and routes Venezuelan royalties to an account the United States Treasury designates.
Text equivalent of the title card
Every data point shown on the title image, with its source.
- Interim from March 2026, after Dr Thackwray Driver's resignation took effect on 31 March 2026. Source: Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago.
- Georgetown Chamber memorandum of understanding signed 5 May 2026, at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston. Source: Energy Chamber and Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
- Suriname Energy Chamber memorandum of understanding signed 23 June 2026, on day one of the Suriname Energy, Oil and Gas Summit in Paramaribo, with Orlando Olmberg for Suriname. Source: OilNOW, 24 June 2026; Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago.
- Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce agreement, 8 July 2026, signed by Karen Yip Chuck and attended by Marajh.
- Confirmed President and Chief Executive Officer, 14 August 2026. Source: Energy Chamber.
- Director of Touchstone Exploration Inc since 11 July 2022. Source: Touchstone's 2026 notice of annual and special meeting.
- Part-time lecturer at the University of the West Indies since 2008, eighteen years.
- Qualifications: an LLB from the University of London, and an MSc and a PhD in international relations from the University of the West Indies.
- Four working areas in the Georgetown Chamber agreement: trade barriers, local content and supply chain integration, energy transition and diversification, technical exchanges on gas monetisation.
- Two bilateral agreements signed in her own hand as interim leader, seven weeks apart, with Guyana and Suriname.
- Quotation from Marajh to OilNOW, 6 May 2026.
The record at a glance
| Confirmed President and CEO, Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago | 14 August 2026 |
| Interim from | March 2026, after Dr Thackwray Driver's departure effective 31 March |
| Previous Chamber role | Vice President, advocacy and membership engagement |
| Director, Touchstone Exploration Inc | since 11 July 2022 |
| Qualifications | LLB (London); MSc and PhD in international relations (UWI) |
| Lecturer, University of the West Indies | since 2008 |
| Bilateral agreements signed as interim | Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Houston, 5 May 2026; Suriname Energy Chamber, Paramaribo, 23 June 2026 |
| Attended, did not sign | Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, 8 July 2026 |
What comes next under the agreement?
A first joint event, on a work plan she described in July.
Marajh said on 9 July 2026 that a work plan had been agreed and a first event was roughly three months away, virtual in the first instance. Nothing further has been announced, and no Guyana event appears on the Energy Chamber's published calendar through January 2027.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Dr Priya Marajh?
The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago, confirmed in the role on 14 August 2026 after running its executive office on an interim basis from March.
What did she sign as interim leader?
Two bilateral agreements. A memorandum of understanding with Guyana's Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, signed at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston on 5 May 2026, and a memorandum with the Suriname Energy Chamber, signed in Paramaribo on 23 June 2026. She also attended a third signing on 8 July 2026 with the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, which Karen Yip Chuck signed.
What are her qualifications?
A Bachelor of Laws from the University of London, and a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in international relations from the University of the West Indies, where she has lectured part-time since 2008.
What corporate positions does she hold?
Touchstone Exploration Inc, a Canadian company listed in Toronto and London with onshore Trinidad operations, records her as a director since 11 July 2022 in its 2026 notice of annual and special meeting.
What do the two bilateral agreements cover?
The Guyana agreement covers the removal of trade barriers between the two countries, local content policy development and supply chain integration, energy transition and diversification, and technical exchanges on gas monetisation. The Suriname agreement covers institutional collaboration and energy-sector development, knowledge transfer, institutional strengthening and local-content capacity building, regional policy development, investment promotion and regional integration, and joint activities including events, research papers and consultations.