Chairman: More than half NP's gas stations unprofitable

NATIONAL Petroleum (NP) chairman Sahid Hosein says the company is not making money on more than half its gas stations.

He was speaking at a media conference on August 19 at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Port of Spain.

Hosein said NP’s service station network consists of 117 active service stations, of which 65 are profitable for the operator but "uneconomical" for NP.

“If it were to be looked at from a business standpoint and a private-sector business standpoint, most of those stations would not be operating, because the volumes that they generate are not sufficient to make a return.

"Also it has to do with the size of the catchment area, how many people are purchasing fuel in that catchment area.”

He explained this is due mostly to the location of the service stations in small far-flung communities such as Cedros, Toco, Mayaro, Icacos and Moruga.

Hosein said these community sites are subsidised by NP.

He said NP felt it had a social responsibility to continue servicing those areas, as not doing so would have a significant economic impact on the community.

“In Tobago we have places like Charlotteville which are very distant and volumes are also very small.

"But at the end of the day you are required to ensure that, because of where the people are located, that they have access.

"And then also we tend to forget that a lot of these stations in the outlying area service the fishing community, who require fuel on a daily basis.”

Hosein was asked about plans to expand service stations to include electric-car charging ports as a means of grabbing a foothold in the expanding electric-car industry.

But he said while it is a logical decision, as Trinidad and Tobago has a surplus of electricity, it would incur significant infrastructural costs which NP cannot currently justify.

“To put down those charging ports comes at a considerable cost. So yes, it makes sense…but at this point in time we have to look at it in terms of a cost factor and the overall cost.

"We can’t spend how we would want to spend. When you are flush with money you can get into a number of areas comfortably, but NP is not a company that is flush with money.”

Hosein said since he was appointed chairman in 2015, the company had never received any subvention from the government.

He added that he is unsure if it received any subventions before he was appointed, but the company operates on slim margins and was doing well still to roll out new service stations across the country.

“Several stations were refurbished and new stations were brought into the system, probably 25 or so, which has come up to a considerable amount of money.

“NP fully financed the construction of these new sites, as well as upgrades to the service-station network, without subvention by the government.

"The story in the media is that NP gets subvention but they are not accounting for it. That is absolutely false.”

Hosein said there are plans to streamline the organisation in line with what has been seen at other state-owned companies.

"All state enterprises, from what I've seen and what was public knowledge, could do with some sort of reformation of processes to make them become more efficient.

"One thing I would say is that we really need to move more quickly to get us a better place, get us into the modern era, as it were, in terms of processes and doing things differently.”

He said the company believes attempts to streamline its operations will be met with some resistance

“Unfortunately in state enterprises, especially old state enterprises, culture is difficult to change. People become our acclimatised to doing things in a particular way and behaving in a particular way. And so to bring about that change, as someone considers how quickly the environment is changing regarding technology and processes and whatnot, we need, at NP, to move at a faster pace to make those changes for us to continue to be relevant.”

Hosein said the relationship between NP and the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU), which represents NP workers, has been tension-filled in recent times.

He urged the OWTU to sit with him and talk though issues as they arise.

“Communication is always a starting point, and continuing communication is where you are going to arrive at a better position. We may not always agree 100 per cent on issues, but in my case I have an open-door policy where anybody could come in and speak with me. The union has not availed themselves of that, and the union branch itself has not availed themselves of that opportunity."

Mentioning protests in front of his home last month, Hosein said bullying tactics will never work if the company and the union are to reach any agreement on issues.

“Protesting at the slightest issues, rather than having proper conversation, doesn’t augur well for becoming a more efficient and better-run organisation.”