Equal opportunity for bidders in Pointe-a-Pierre refinery sale, says Young

ALL ten companies that submitted non-binding offers (NBOs) for the mothballed Pointe-a-Pierre refinery were given equal treatment and access to information, according to Energy and Energy Industries Minister Stuart Young.

His statement came in response to a question posed by Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee in the House of Representatives on November 15.

Young said all companies were given access to the same virtual data room with all refinery-related documents.

Additionally, he said any additional documents requested by individual companies were also shared with the other companies to ensure each company had access to the same data.

He said all companies benefitted from a management presentation, at least one tour of the refinery with the opportunity offered for follow-up site visits, follow-up meetings after the May 10 submission deadline to discuss the individual commercial models with the Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd and Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. teams, a July 31 deadline for all companies to update and resubmit NBOs after the follow-up meeting, and follow-up correspondences and an open line of communication with Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. for any clarifications regarding their project funding.

Continuing to respond to the question posed, Young revealed the identities of the six people who made up the cabinet-approved committee who are evaluating the bids.

These are TT High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Vishnu Dhanpaul; Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries (MEEI) permanent secretary (PS) Sandra Fraser, Ministry of Finance acting PS Dexter Jaggernauth (or Jimmy Wong as alternate); MEEI strategic energy advisor Selwyn Lashley; former Upstream CEO Vincent Pierrera and partner at M. Hamel-Smith and Company Melissa Inglefield.

He restated the companies which submitted NBOs were Columbus Refinery TT Ltd, CRO- Chemietech LLC, DR Commodities Ltd, Ocala Services Ltd, GN Fenceline Solutions Management Company Ltd, IEM Refinery Company Ltd, Inca Energy LLC, Integritus Group Company Ltd, Nautical Partners Ltd, Oando Trading DMCC, Patriotic Energy Services Company Ltd and Sarge Enterprises Ltd.

In his 2024/2025 budget statement in Parliament on September 30, Minister of Finance Colm Imbert said Cabinet short-listed three companies to acquire the refinery based on the recommendations of the selection committee and Scotia Capital. These are locally-based CRO Consortium comprising DR Commodities Ltd, Chemie-Tech and Ocala, US-based INCA Energy LLC, and Nigeria-based Oando PLC.

However, he did not say when a successful candidate would be announced.

Also responding to a question submitted by Lee, Young said the TT Upstream Downstream Energy Operations Company Ltd (TTUDEOCL) is in the process of writing NiQuan's receiver to outline its claims.

Responding to a question submitted by Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee, Young said, based on legal advice received, TTUDEOCL did not pursue involvement in the court process involving NiQuan’s winding up. He said this was on the basis that TTUDEOCL was prepared to consider negotiations in good faith with the receiver/manager appointed.

"This was considered as the most prudent avenue to recover the debt owed by NiQuan as TTUDEOCL is an unsecured creditor."

He said TTUDECOL was informed by an advertisement in the newspaper around October 24 that a receiver was appointed.