Petrotrin spends $22m in overtime

State-run oil firm Petrotrin has an overtime bill of $22 million per month or over a quarter-billion dollars per year, Parliament’s Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Energy learnt yesterday. The JSC, under Finance Minister Colm Imbert, grilled Petrotrin officials including chairman Wilfred Espinet and president Fitzroy Harewood.

Petrotrin vice president for human resources Neil Derrick told the JSC Petrotrin’s monthly overtime bill is $22 million, out of a total annual wage-bill of $2 billion.

Harewood said this overtime is 18 per cent of the total wage-bill.

Imbert mulled remarks that Petrotrin’s wage-bill makes up 50 per cent of its operating costs, as stated in the recent report by Ministry of Energy permanent secretary Selwyn Lashley.

Espinet said a consultant’s recent report said this ratio is twice as high as international benchmarks. Imbert replied, “Great, so it should be 25 per cent.”

While challenged to get stakeholder consensus, Espinet admitted, “Petrotrin cannot continue to exist in its present form.

“I’m not sure if it is we can convince people in bringing salaries down but they may be able to work four days a week or three days a week, rather than five if you want to keep numbers (of workers.)”

Saying Petrotrin must cut its operational costs, Espinet said. “There are about six ways to skin a cat.”

However Espinet said Petrotrin must take care, in its public remarks, not to aggravate stakeholders, including bond-holders. “We’d not use the word ‘re-structuring’, as it has certain connotations in the financial world.”

Asked to soon give a powerpoint display on Petrotrin’s status, Espinet warned against Petrotrin being laid bare.” Imbert said the JSC may decide to hold a private hearing, then a second, limited public hearing.

Saying the board is totally committed to Petrotrin but faces “a challenge of unbelievable proportions,” Espinet said, “This is not going to be an easy challenge and I hope everybody has their seatbelts on.” Earlier Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen asked if Petrotrin in fiscal 2017 had access to an earmarked US$630 million to spend on asset upgrades. Harewood said no.

Espinet said the sum might include costs of the Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel Project.

Asked how Petrotrin monitored the amount and quality of its crude-oil purchases, vice president for exploration, Stephen Awah, said from well to refinery, 98 per cent of measurements were done by manual dipstick but he’d prefer electronic systems.