Page 12 - LatAmOil Week 23 2020

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“[At] the moment, everything is normal,” said decline in global oil prices and energy demand.
Greta Alcantara, the director of institutional In the first quarter of 2020 alone, it lost $23bn;
relations for Grupo Cemza. Marinsa de Mexico on the other hand, it was already in a tight spot
is still “working hand-in-hand with Pemex,” she before the advent of the Russian-Saudi oil price
declared. war and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pan-
Pemex is keen to reduce its expenses for a demic. It was carrying a debt load of more than
variety of reasons: on the one hand, the company $100bn, making it the most indebted oil com-
has suffered this year, owing to the precipitous pany in the world. ™

US VIRGIN ISL ANDS
Re-opening of St. Croix refinery

likely to be delayed again

THE government of the US Virgin Islands has additional jobs at the refinery,” she said. “Those
indicated that the re-opening of the St. Croix oil jobs at the refinery, however, are countered by
refinery is likely to be delayed once more. the end of employment for a significant portion
Jenifer O’Neal, director of the Office of Man- of the approximately 3,000 people involved with
agement and Budget (OMB), noted during a its construction.”
meeting of the Senate’s Finance Committee ear- O’Neal has said before that she was con-
lier this week that Freepoint Commodities and cerned that the oil-processing plant might be
ArcLight Capital Partners, the plant, had origi- adversely affected by fall-out from the corona-
nally planned to resume operations at the begin- virus pandemic.
ning of 2020. The start date was then pushed After USVI Governor Albert Bryan submit-
back to July 1 and may have to be postponed ted his 2021 budget proposal to legislators in late
again to October 1 because of the coronavirus May, she pointed out that cruise lines had long
(COVID-19) outbreak, she said. been among the biggest buyers of fuel produced
“The pandemic might also delay the reopen- by the St. Croix refinery. “The facility’s reliance
ing of the Limetree Bay oil refinery … following on demand from cruise ships may also prove a
a $2bn overhaul,” O’Neal was quoted as saying near-term vulnerability if the industry is unable
by the St. Thomas Source. to quickly rebound following the pandemic,”
She did not say whether a definite decision she was quoted as saying by the Virgin Islands
had been made on this front. As of press time, Consortium.
neither Freepoint Commodities nor ArcLight Freepoint and ArcLight began preparing for
Capital Partners had commented on the matter. a partial restart of the St. Croix refinery after
The director went on to say that the refinery securing a financing deal in late 2018. At the
had the potential to improve the islands’ econ- time, they said, they intended to bring 200,000
omy. “Once it comes online, the renovated plant bpd, or more than 57% of the plant’s 350,000 bpd
should provide economic diversification and design capacity, back on stream in early 2020.

The St. Croix refinery has a capacity of 350,000 bpd (Photo: Limetree Bay Ventures)

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