T&T gov’t stops union refinery take over bid
By Bert Wilkinson
The Caribbean Community’s
most important oil refinery
will remain close for a while
yet after authorities in Trinidad
again rejected a takeover
bid by its labor union, citing
the group’s inability to raise
enough financing to be handed
the facility.
The administration of
Prime Minister, Keith Rowley
had allowed itself to be persuaded
to negotiate with an
Oilfield Workers Trade Union
(OTWU)-led group to take over
the shuttered Petrotrin refinery
in South Trinidad, retrofit
it, rehire hundreds of workers
and restart operations but officials
said this week that it was
clear that Patriotic Energies
and Technologies Limited was
struggling to meet a sale price
of more than $700 million.
This is the second time in
three months that the cabinet
has turned away the union-led
bid but union President, Ancel
Roget said authorities did not
help the group enough by
removing mortgage on assets
so they take over could have
been easier.
The more than 100-year old
refinery had been a reliable
supplier of oil and products
to several CARICOM countries
including Guyana, Barbados,
St. Vincent and others. When
the cabinet ordered it closed in
late 2018, it sent governments
in the region scrambling for
new oil suppliers as they waited
a while to see if new buyers
would take over. Nothing has
happened since, meaning that
countries are being forced to
source supplies from outside
the 15-nation single trading
bloc.
“We were derailed by the
government’s offer. The minister
of finance on Sept. 25, 2019
would have derailed Patriotic
because Patriotic came to the
table with an upfront US$700
million to purchase these
assets. “The government said
no we have a better offer — 10
years to pay and three years to
start paying and some 10 things
to work out. We did all of that,
but when the rubber hits the
road, when we were supposed
to get this thing operational,
the bond holders who were perhaps
not a part of government’s
offer, said no that cannot happen,”
a clearly frustrated union
Caribbean L 12 ife, JANUARY 22-28, 2021
leader told reporters.
PM Rowley had said the
refinery had been a financial
burden on the treasury, carrying
debts of more than $1 billion
and needing then about $4
billion to remain open. “There
is no way that the company can
find this money. No financier
will lend it because the company
simply will not be able to
repay such an additional loan,”
Rowley told reporters. Minister
of Energy, Franklin Khan said,
“the government will immediately
return to the open market
to explore all other options.”
Patriotic is not barred from
bidding again.
The refinery’s closure had
placed nearly 3,000 workers on
the breadline and had almost
decimated economic life and
small businesses, including
food vending. It was the linchpin
of Trinidad’s now declining
oil sector with daily production
declining to less than 100,000
barrels day, less than neighboring
Guyana, which only began
producing and exporting in
late 2019.
As the fallout from the latest
rejection of Patriotic’s bid
becomes clear, Opposition
Leader and former prime minister,
Kamla Persad-Bissessar
demanded the resignation of
her successor, contending that
it becomes mopre expensive to
repair and restart with each
passing day that the plant
remains idle.
“Given that the Petrotrin
Refinery has been shut for
almost three years now and
with every increasing costs to
restart it, who will now want to
purchase this asset”? she asked.
The refi nery of the state-owned Petroleum Company of
Trinidad and Tobago Ltd, PETROTRIN is shown in Pointe-a-
Pierre, on the Gulf of Paria; Trinidad & Tobago. Associated
Press / Shirley Bahadur; File
MƒA SUPPORTS
TEACHERS WHO
ARE FINDING
A WAY FORWARD,
NOW MORE
THAN EVER.
We’ve built a fellowship
community of NYC STEM
teachers who are leading
and growing through
hundreds of opportunities
for collaboration, connection,
and continued learning.
Apply for an MƒA fellowship
today and join like-minded
colleagues in tackling new
teaching challenges together at
MathForAmerica.org/forward.
/forward
