THE Trinidad and Tobago Government says it remains optimistic that it will restart the State-owned former Petrotrin oil refinery that had been shut down by the Dr Keith Rowley administration in 2018 because of outstanding debts totalling billions of dollars.
Energy and Energy Industries Minister, Dr Roodal Moonilal, said that the Kamla Persad-Bissessar Government is nearing a final decision on the refinery restart, following high-level talks with international entities, including officials from Nigeria.
He told reporters Government has been inspired by successful refinery revivals in West Africa and that it is finalising a commercial and financing structure that shifts the capital burden away from taxpayers and towards international private investors.
The proposal, which emphasises the use of a world-class operator and local labour, is set to be presented to the Cabinet for a final decision in the very near future.
“I can say that we have had expressions of interest, we have had talks with entities throughout the Caribbean and across the globe. Quite recently in Washington, we have had discussions with officials of the Republic of Nigeria and other places as well on the refinery upstart,” Moonilal said, adding “we’re extremely optimistic.
“In Africa, incidentally, there have been several refineries that have had restarts, some even longer than seven years have been gone, and we were excited to learn of some of the West African developments.
“We are in talks with several entities concerning both operationalising, commercial structure, and of course financing. And we are coming to the end of that period now, and very soon, the cabinet and the prime minister will be involved in the government to take some decisions as we go forward.”
Moonilal said he would prefer not to speak at length on the issue because of the pending discussions by the cabinet.
“But we are coming very soon now to some key decisions on that matter, and we are very happy with the interest, and we are happy with the scenario where, of course, the taxpayer will not have to expend any significant amount of capital investment, but we can get that from the international private sector, from the investing community, and of course we can have a reputable, world-class operator to work with our labour force here, labour force from Trinidad, local content, and restart that refinery,” he stated.