Petrotrin must be upgraded

THE EDITOR: When the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery was fully operational, Petrotrin supplied TT, and much of the Caribbean, with a complete suite of refined petroleum products: LPG, unleaded gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, diesel, fuel oil, bitumen, sulphur, and base lubricants. We were self-sufficient. We were exporters. We were a regional powerhouse.

All of that ended with the 2018 shutdown.

But as the global energy landscape shifts, it is now glaringly obvious: a modernised refinery is not optional, it is a strategic necessity.

First, we have the scientific and industrial base to produce high-value derivatives from our own Pitch Lake. Lake Asphalt was already producing refined pitch and sealants for export. This is a niche, high-margin market that small countries would die to have. We have it, and we under-utilise it.

Second, any reopening of the refinery must be future-proof. That means ensuring the plant can process Guyana’s light sweet crude, now one of the hottest commodities in the hemisphere. If TT cannot refine Guyana’s crude, someone else will and profit from it.

Third, the refinery must be capable of refining Venezuelan heavy crude. Venezuelan oil is notoriously sludgy, but we sit right next door. The freight savings alone, the turnaround time for shipments, and the ability to blend or refine that crude for regional distribution would put TT back in a dominant logistical position in the Caribbean energy chain.

Instead of watching other countries seize the opportunity, we should be positioning the refinery as the Caribbean’s premier toll refiner, blending hub, and supplier of finished products.

We once supplied the entire region. We can do it again, but only if the refinery is upgraded for modern feedstock and aligned with the realities of hemispheric geopolitics.

TT has never lacked the talent, the resources, or the strategic location, only the political will.

GORDON LAUGHLIN

via e-mail