Former prime minister Stuart Young has described Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Roodal Moonilal's recent response to him as "laughable hypocrisy and inescapable irony."

The former Minister of Energy and Energy Industries and Moonilal have been locked in a public spat over the issue of the Dragon gas project over the last few days. In the face of criticisms from his predecessor over the administration's move to pursue the project, Moonilal said Young should stay quiet.

"This is a time of intensive energy diplomacy. A lot of work has taken place. The PM has led the initiative on this very critical matter for our economic stability and energy security," Moonilal said.