Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 09 2021

LatAmOil TRINIDAD & TOBAGO LatAmOil

Imbert definitively rejects OWTU

subsidiary’s bid for Petrotrin plant

COLM Imbert, the finance minister of Trini- offer several times, but the government has
dad and Tobago, confirmed last week that the expressed scepticism about its ability to restart
government was rejecting the bid made by a and invest in the plant. The company tried to
local trade union for the Petrotrin oil refinery put the government’s doubts to rest last month
in Point-a-Pierre, along with associated port by submitting documentation corroborating its
facilities. claims of adequate financial standing, but to no
In a statement, Imbert explained that Port of effect.
Spain had not changed course since February Petrotrin, which is currently owned by a gov-
18, when it turned down the offer it had received ernment-run entity known as Guaracara Refin-
from Patriotic Energies and Technologies Co., ing and Paria Fuel Trading., has been idle for the
a subsidiary of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade last two years. The government shut the 140,000
Union (OWTU), which represents local oil barrel per day (bpd) plant down in 2019, citing
and gas workers. He acknowledged that he and concerns about the refinery operator’s ability to
other Finance Ministry officials had met with reverse the decline that had caused it to incur
representatives of Patriotic earlier in the week at $1bn worth of losses between 2014 and 2019.
the company’s request, but he stressed that the At that time, officials in Port of Spain said
meeting did not have any effect on the deal. that they were looking for an investor who could
The parties met only in order to “clarify any pump about $4bn into the plant. They said that
issues that may exist with respect to the details Guaracara would need $2bn to cover unpaid
of the financing proposal submitted by Patri- debts and another $2bn to cover operational
otic on February 5, 2021 for the purchase of the expenses and pay for an overdue equipment
Point-a-Pierre Refinery and Paria Fuel Trad- upgrade. ™
ing and the recent Cabinet decision regarding
same,” he stated. Port of Spain has made clear
that it will not reconsider the company’s offer,
he emphasised.
In the meantime, Imbert said, the gov-
ernment will look to the market to determine
whether any other suitable investors are avail-
able to take the OWTU subsidiary’s place.
State-owned Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd
(TPHL) is due to submit proposals to this effect
to the Finance Ministry within the next three
weeks, he said.
Patriotic has been in negotiations with the
government of Trinidad and Tobago on the
refinery sale since 2019. It has revised its original Petrotrin has a capacity of 160,000 bpd(File Photo)

COLOMBIA
Ecopetrol head comments on ISA bid

THE head of Colombia’s national oil company the operation of toll roads and fibre-optic net-
(NOC) Ecopetrol has defended his company’s works – fall outside the scope of the NOC’s core
decision to submit a bid for a majority 51.4% business.
stake in Interconexion Electrica SA (ISA), the However, if Ecopetrol is able to gain a foot-
country’s electricity transmission system oper- hold in these areas, it will be “years ahead” with
ator (TSO). respect to diversifying its portfolio, he told
According to CEO Felipe Bayon, the TSO is Bloomberg in an interview last week.
likely to be a good investment, even though its Bayon acknowledged that it was uncommon
operations – electricity transmission, as well as for oil companies to take this approach. ™

Week 09 04•March•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9