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Trinidad refinery sale collapses

  • Mercados: Crude oil, Oil products
  • 02/11/20

Trinidad and Tobago's plan to sell its idle 165,000 b/d refinery to a labor union-owned start-up has collapsed.

A final proposal by Patriotic Energies and Technologies (PET) to purchase the Point-a-Pierre refinery failed to address "key issues" of purchase price financing and restart financing, energy minister Franklin Khan said.

The government and PET had been negotiating the sale of the century-old plant after PET made a $700mn offer in 2019, outbidding US private equity firm Beowulf Energy and German refiner and trader Klesch.

With the PET offer now off the table, bids submitted by Klesch and Beowulf will now be considered, Khan said.

The government is committed to restarting the refinery with private capital "and will move expeditiously to do so, as it is a critical path item for the economy," Khan said.

The government shut the money-losing refinery in November 2018. Trinidad has since been importing around 25,000 b/d of products on the spot market to meet domestic demand.

While in operation, the refinery supplied domestic and neighboring islands with gasoline, kerosene, aviation fuel, diesel, fuel oil and LPG.

PET is "surprised" at the government's rejection of its final proposal, union OWTU president general Ancel Roget said.

"Our proposal is supported by a letter from one of the world's top 10 investment banks signed off by three of its global heads," he said.

"We very diligently discussed the matter with our international business partners," Roget said, without naming the investment bank or PET's business partners.

PET's shareholders would include Suriname-based private equity firm SunStone Equity and UK independent Mak England, OWTU said in December 2018. Neither company has responded to a request for comment or confirmation of participation in the company.

Trinidad has been exporting its crude since the refinery was closed. August production of around 57,000 b/d dipped by 1.4pc from July, according to energy ministry data.


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