Minister of Finance Davendranath Tancoo has defended the government's decision to base its fiscal 2026 budget on an oil price of US$73.25 per barrel and natural gas at $4.25 per million British thermal units (MMBtu).

His defence came during a post-budget forum hosted by the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce at La Réve conference centre in San Fernando on October 14, where the business development manager at Heritage Petroleum Ltd, Nalini Ramkissoon, asked about the rationale for the price selection.

Tancoo said the price was selected using projections from the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, the calculation of which used a "basket of prices" and was developed under the previous administration. He said that within the projections are optimistic figures, pessimistic figures and one that lies between these estimates. The middle figure, he said, was used.