Refinery committee formed, to report in four months

FORMER energy minister Kevin Ramnarine will chair a committee that will determine the feasibility of reopening the former Petrotrin refinery in Pointe-a-Pierre.

This committee has been mandated to provide Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal with a report on this matter within four months.

Upon receipt of this report, Moonilal will take this matter to cabinet for further discussion and to make a decision on the refinery's restart.

Moonilal made those announcements at a post-cabinet news conference at the Red House on July 10.

He reminded the media the reopening of the refinery was one of the UNC's campaign promises leading up to the April 28 general election.

Moonilal recalled the refinery was mothballed in November 2018 and "still continues to draw down on precious taxpayers' dollars to the tune of $470,000 per month which is paid to a contractor for monthly services associated with the refinery."

He said the total costs incurred by Guaracara Refining Company Ltd to maintain the refinery is estimated to be $5.6 million per month "when one looks at other costs associated with the mothballing of the refinery."

Guaracara is a subsidiary of Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd (TPHL) which was created when the refinery was closed in November 2018.

Moonilal recalled three processes had been undertaken since the refinery's closure to identify preferred investor to restart the refinery.

He said any interest expressed with respect to the refinery's potential restart would be put on hold until the committee submitted its report and cabinet made a decision with respect to the report.

Moonilal declined to name any company which was interested in acquiring or leasing the refinery or has expressed such an interest in the past.

He recalled the Oilfield Workers' Trade Union (OWTU) expressed an interest in the refinery previously through its company Patriotic Technologies Ltd but was unsuccessful in its efforts to lease or acquire the refinery.

The OWTU was part of the "coalition of interests" which partnered with the UNC for the election.

Moonilal did not entertain speculation from the media about the presence of the OWTU on the committee giving the union an advantage over potential bidders for the refinery.

He said that was not part of the committee's mandate.

Moonilal also did not speculate on whether or not government would opt to place the refinery back under state control as opposed to allowing a private sector entity to operate it.

Moonilal added there was a possibility the committee's report could be made public, after cabinet made the necessary deliberations on the matter.

On February 27, then energy minister Stuart Young said Nigerian company Oando PLC had been selected as the preferred bidder for the lease of the refinery.

He added cabinet had informed TPHL of its non-objection to proceeding with discussions with Oando.

"The ball is now in TPHL's court. The cabinet is satisfied with this decision, and I urge the public to stay informed and make decisions with the country's future in mind."

In an opinion published on the same day, the chamber said it has long supported the privatisation of the refinery to put the asset to productive use.

"Significant capital investment is required to bring the refinery’s assets back into productive and profitable operation. This investment must be carefully deployed and managed, as it involves substantial risk."

For this reason, the chamber said no additional taxpayer funds from TT should be allocated to this investment.

"The required capital should come from the private sector. Given the scale of the investment needed, the majority of this capital was always expected to originate from international sources."

The chamber said it had also strongly supported and encouraged local private-sector participation as well.

"Reviving operations at the Guaracara refinery will generate new jobs, create business opportunities, and increase tax revenue for the government."

Refinery evaluation/restart committee members

Kevin Ramnarine - chairman

Sheriba Ali Rajah - former Petrotrin official

Kelvin Harnanan - former Petrotrin vice president marketing/retail

Goutam Maharaj - former Petrotrin refinery manager

Kishore Jagroo - university lecturer, engineering

Leslie Chang - operations and process engineer

Christopher Jackman - OWTU official

Danny Goolcharan - electrical systems expert/ former OWTU official

Margaret de Silva Ocando - planning/economics/commercial/marine/port manager

Yashi Carrington - Energy Ministry chemical engineer

Anuskha Bene-Sookhoo - Energy Ministry chemical engineer

Len Chan Chow - Port/marine/shipping expert