PETROTRIN SALE STALLS FOR THIRD TIME

THE Rowley Government’s divestment of Petrotrin has stalled for the third time.

It is now increasingly difficult for a new lease-holder to crank up the Pointe-a-Pierre facility before next year’s general election.

The two previous attempts to introduce a new operator were scuttled by various procedural problems.

The Cabinet is still to consider the three shortlisted companies for purchase or lease of the refinery and other operations.

That is despite the Office of Procurement Regulator granting a statutory compliance approval of the bidding process.

The three selected applicants have provided relevant documents, including a guaranteed financing plan for the high-cost restart of the facility, which was shut down six years ago.

The three firms are Trinidad and Tobago-based CRO Consortium, US-headquartered Inca Energy, and Nigeria-based Oando.

Sources familiar with planning at the three companies said they were prepared for closing discussions leading to a resumption of operations.

One company insider said: “We are very interested in formalising an agreement in the shortest possible time.”

Energy Minister Stuart Young recently said talks will be held with the three companies “to see what may be the most feasible result.”

It is costing taxpayers $500,000 a month to preserve the mothballed refinery.

An indication of the slow divestment process is that failed bidders were only recently informed that they were not among the selected contenders in what is termed Project Calypso.

Michael Quamina, Chairman of Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd. (TPHL), wrote to the unsuccessful tendering companies.

Quamina said that “after careful consideration of your submission, as well as the details provided in your meeting with the Evaluation Committee, we regret to inform you that your company was not shortlisted for continued participation.”  

One source suggested that the absence from the country of Vishnu Dhanpaul, Chair of the 12-member Evaluation Committee, could have further delayed the process.

Dhanpaul was a member of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley’s delegation to the recent Commonwealth leaders’ talks in Samoa.

The Evaluation Committee was earlier advised to conduct its work with haste.

Young gave financial details of the bid by Patriotic Energy, prompting sharp criticism that there was a breach in the committee’s confidentiality.

Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union, which owns Patriotic, threatened legal action and called for scrapping of the current process.

But an OWTU source said last week there would not be any litigation since the union is likely to play a role in the recruitment and representation of workers.

The Government had previously hired Scotia Capital Inc., at a cost of $12 million, to undertake a due diligence exercise of all the tenders.

The dire impact of the refinery’s closure on fenceline communities is a primary reason for eagerness to re-launch the plant, political sources said.

Apart from the loss of almost 6,000 jobs, the shutdown impacted energy service companies and small business enterprises in outlying communities.

Schlumberger and other oilfield service providers have since relocated to Guyana.

Several small businesses closed their doors.

The ruling PNM is eyeing the Claxton Bay constituency (currently named Pointe-a-Pierre) in the forthcoming election.

The PNM is aiming to reverse a 1,500 vote deficit from the 2020 general election.