THE international company paid $12 million to evaluate tenders for Petrotrin is hush-hush over Naveen Jindal.Scotiabank Capital (USA) Inc. has declined to state whether the Indian industrialist had submitted a formal bid for the Pointe-a-Pierre operations.CounterPunchTT reached out to the Toronto, Canada-based Scotiabank executive in charge of the process, Guido Lenarduzzi, Managing Director of Mergers and Acquisitions.Lenarduzzi did not respond.Scotiabank is receiving a total of $12 million for analysing the bids and submitting a report.For several weeks, the Government touted Jindal to take over the mothballed plant.But the industrialist, who leads a namesake power and steel company, recently wrote Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley stating that he was no longer interested in the investment.He blamed public criticism for his decision.There were reports that Jindal did not make a formal bid for the facility, unlike nine Trinidad and Tobago-owned entities.CounterPunchTT previously reported that Jindal was given preferential treatment and was not required to submit a tender.Other bidders had to provide details of engineering resources, source of funds and marketing plans.Scotiabank carefully studied those proposals.Well-placed sources said Lenarduzzi has completed the evaluation and passed on recommendations to Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd. (TPHL).Scotiabank has termed the matter “Project Calypso.”Sources also revealed that a local assessment team, headed by former Permanent Secretary Vishnu Dhanpaul, will review the recommendations and submit a report to Cabinet.The knowledgeable sources said Rowley would announce a lease agreement within months, in the run-up to the general election.“It is all well-timed for maximum political impact,” one informant said.Rowley is expected to indicate plans to employ thousands of professionals and to jumpstart economic activities in the fenceline communities of Pointe-a-Pierre, Claxton Bay, Plaisance Park, Marabella, Vistabella, and Gasparillo.The communities are the core of the Pointe-a-Pierre electoral constituency, now renamed Claxton Bay.The PNM is targeting that constituency in the election and has earmarked a businessman as its candidate.“The PNM is all set to play Petrotrin politics,” the informed source said.The restart of the refinery is one aspect of a revival in the energy sector on which the PNM Government is relying.The ruling regime is planning to campaign on the monetising of the cross-border Dragon Gas and Coquina-Manakin fields.Minister of Energy Stuart Young has said that exploration is due to begin in 2027, which is in the middle of the next electoral term.But the current political turmoil in Venezuela is causing great anxiety along the corridors of power in Port of Spain.Rowley said T&T is staying neutral on the issue but has criticised unnamed “outsiders,” who, he said, are trying to force change in Venezuela.Young said there is “uncertainty” over the gas contracts but insisted they could withstand scrutiny.Sources said that senior Government officials fear the removal of Nicolas Maduro as President could negatively affect the exploration agreement.The United States said Maduro was not legitimately elected, and several Latin American countries have queried the result.With a sagging economy, heavy debts and the absence of diversification, the Government is banking heavily on the Petrotrin and gas deals.