Imbert: 3 bidders shortlisted for refinery takeover

CABINET has agreed to a shortlist of three bidders for the takeover of the former Petrotrin refinery in Pointe-a-Pierre, Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced in his 2024/2025 budget presentation.

The bidders are CRO Consortium (a TT-based consortium, comprising DR Commodities Ltd, Chemie-Tech and Ocala), US-based iNca Energy LLC and Nigeria-based Dando PLC, selected by Scotia Capital (USA) and an evaluation committee, from a list of ten interested parties.

Scotia Capital was hired to manage the government’s third procurement process for the takeover.

"A formal selective request for proposals process will now be initiated to determine the winner of these companies," Imbert announced.

He said an evaluation committee, "comprising knowledgeable and experienced persons" had been selected from the public and private sectors, "to evaluate a complex transaction of this nature."

Imbert said Scotia Capital required potential bidders to address specific requirements in its expressions of interest, including proof of qualification to own and operate the refinery assets, experience in operating a refinery and evidence of the potential source of financing, among several others.

Imbert noted that the government tried to sell or lease the refinery twice since its closure but was unsuccessful because the preferred bidders "could not show any tangible evidence of their ability to raise the necessary capital to open and operate the refinery."

Patriotic Energies and Technologies Co Ltd, a company owned by the Oilfields Workers' Trade Union (OWTU) submitted a bid in 2019 and was initially given the nod to acquire the refinery.

Their bid faced challenges, owing to financing concerns, and negotiations eventually fell through.

In July, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), an Indian multinational company expressed an interest in taking over the refinery but withdrew in early August.

The PM blamed the Opposition for engaging in personal attacks against the owners, chasing JSPL away from the bid.

Imbert said, "In pursuit of the overarching objective to attract private sector investment for the reopening of the refinery, Trinidad Petroleum Company – the company holding assets for the defunct Petrotrin – commenced a third procurement process in 2024, with the solicitation of expressions of interest from new potential bidders, and the parties who participated in the previous two attempts."

He said the former refinery was unprofitable because it was overstaffed, operating with as much as five times the number of workers required for efficiency and "would never have been profitable under its previous configuration.

"However, the government believes that if the refinery can be reopened without any burden on the treasury, this will provide a number of benefits in terms of employment, increased economic activity, availability of locally-produced fuel and reinvigoration of fenceline communities."

He said taxpayers will be protected.

"It must be stressed that in this process, the government has no intention of exposing taxpayers to the recurring billion-dollar losses that occurred previously in the operation of the refinery...The success of this venture is predicated on the principle that it be at no cost to the taxpayer."