MSJ queries changes to Guaracara refinery RFPs

POLITICAL Leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) David Abdulah is calling for the withdrawal of an advertisement by Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd (TPHL) for a request for proposal (RFP) for Guaracara’s refining assets.

Abdulah said the ad published on Saturday is extremely disturbing as the RFP is only for the refinery assets of Guaracara Co Ltd, a subsidiary of TPHL, a radical shift from the original ads for RFPs

He said the refinery cannot operate without the assets owned by another subsidiary Paria Fuel which includes the port, tank farm and associated pipelines. He called for transparency in the process.

He questioned the status of the lien on the assets of the company, one of the sticking points in the acquisition by the original preferred bidder Patriotic Energies and Technologies Co Ltd.

Abdulah said if Patriotic could not acquire the assets because of the lien, then what is with these RFPs? If the lien is cleared then Patriotic should be first in line to acquire and operate the refinery and port, he added.

At the MSJ’ virtual Sunday news conference, Abdulah recalled that in previous RFPs in which Patriotic, owned by the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) won the bid, the assets owned by Paria were part of the acquisition process.

“Paria owns the port of Pointe-a-Pierre as well as the tank farm and pipelines which runs from the tank farm to the port and from the tank farm into the refinery itself.

“We don’t know how you could put out a RFP for a refinery and that refinery has no access to the tank farm to store the crude oil that we would have to bring in to be refined and the tanks to store the refined products to go out, nor will the refinery have access to its own port."

Abdulah said to have an arrangement that leaves out the tank farm, jetty and port, makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

He said the arrangement is also loose as it does not specify whether this is a sale, lease or an operating arrangement with somebody simply coming in as a manager to operate the refinery on behalf of Guaracara

“At this moment we are clueless. The process is like mud covering the ground. We can’t see through it. It is not transparent and therefore, we think there is something to be hidden.”

Abdulah also called for Government to make public the report on the explosion at NiQuan Energy Trinidad Limited in Pointe-A-Pierre. He said the late Energy Minister Franklin Khan promised a report would be made public within weeks of the explosion, but months later, the public is still waiting.