(Trinidad Guardian) Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young has wished Guyana “good luck” in constructing their oil refinery.
Young made the comment during yesterday’s post-Cabinet press briefing in response to queries on Guyana’s Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat’s recent revelation that they will not use T&T’s Pointe-a-Pierre refinery but construct their own as they seek self-sufficiency.
Asked if Guyana’s decision to create its own refinery would compromise T&T’s chances of leasing or selling its refinery, Young said: “Absolutely not.”
He added, “They are looking at a smaller refinery. Ours can process about 150/140,000 barrels of oil a day. They’re not looking at something that large to start with, I mean, good luck to them. Refineries all around the world, some that are being brought back up, some that are being brought down. It is a difficult business.
“What Guyana has is a steady supply of crude and I suspect they will do the necessary negotiations to bring some of that crude home. I don’t see it at all affecting Trinidad and Tobago and the ability for someone to come in with the right proposal to restart the refinery.”
Young said the Government continues to receive proposals for the refinery from seriously interested parties, some of which came even at the International Energy Conference.
He said any serious prospect for the refinery must have a ready supply of crude and be ready to undertake an engineering analysis and work to get the refinery back up and running.
“A lot of people may have ideas, visions, dreams. But until you see that they are serious and they engage in particular on those two points—they will have a supply of crude but more importantly from my perspective, they will undergo the engineering work to restart it safely, with, of course, a cost element that they will bear. That is what will get you across the hurdle,” he said.
The refinery was put up for sale or lease after it was mothballed in 2018 in a restructuring of Petrotrin. Patriotic Energies and Technologies, a company formed by the Oilfields Workers Trade Union (OWTU), was the first to bid on the refinery but were rejected in January 2021. Despite announcing a preferred bidder a few months later, the Government has not since been successful in closing a deal on the refinery.
Last month, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said they were yet to find someone interested in it. Addressing the opening of Guyana’s International Energy Conference and Expo, Rowley offered the refinery to Guyana and any other international bodies who may be interested.
