Shell, Exxon bought Petrotrin crude

SHELL and Exxon Mobil are two of the companies that have purchased crude oil from Petrotrin in spot sales, reported Energy Minister Franklin Khan.

He was responding to a question in Senate on Tuesday from Opposition Senator Wade mark on which company will be purchasing Petrotrin’s crude oil for refining purposes given the impending closure of the Petrotrin Refinery.

He said there is no preferential sale of Petrotrin’s crude oil but the majors, international traders, refiners and integrated oil companies will be invited to participate in the purchase of Petrotrin’s crude oil.

“The company with the most competitive bid will be awarded the cargo.”

Khan said the short-term marketing strategy of spot sales with spot market pricing has been adopted in order to establish the market value of Molo crude (what TT crude is called) which is a medium octane low octane crude. He reported an invitation was sent out to 27 companies consisting of majors, traders, refiners and integrated oil companies and the bids were received on a secure e-mail address that provided a safe platform for the sale of the crude oil.

He said the bids were assessed by an evaluation team comprising senior executives and the criteria for evaluation included the ability of the buyer to lift the cargo, competitive commodity pricing, and attractive commercial and payment terms.

“I am pleased to announce to date three spot sales have been awarded.”

He said one sale was to Trafigura, an international trader, the other to Exxon Mobil Sales and Supplies and third to Shell “each with the most competitive bid on the three occasions thereby providing an indication of the market value of the much maligned Petrotrin crude.” He added the price they got was above West Texas Intermediate (WTI), a benchmark in oil pricing.

Khan said all three cargoes have been shipped and bids have been invited for the delivery of two cargoes in December.

“So the plan is working well.”

Mark asked what was the price of the WTI this country was able to fetch and Khan replied it was WTI plus two dollars.

“You can check the reference price. That price is referenced every day on the international market.”

The price of WTI on Wednesday was US $54.72 per barrel.

Mark then asked what was the total value of the oil exported for the period. Khan said the package size based on the tanker size was approximately 500,000 barrels and take that and multiply by the reference price quoted.

“That is supposed to be very good and palatable news to the people of TT.”

Later in the sitting the Miscellaneous Provisions (Heritage Petroleum, Paria Fuel Trading and Guaracara Refining Vesting) bill was piloted, debated and later passed.

The bill divests some of the assets of Petrotrin in three companies: Heritage Petroleum in Santa Flora and Point Fortin which will manage exploration and production; Paria Fuel Trading in Pointe-a-Pierre for fuel trading and product supply activities, as well as logistics, terminalling and product handling; and Guaracara Refining which will preserve the refinery assets and provide utility services to Petrotrin and Paria.