Refinancing US$850Mn International Bond Critical Issue in Petrotrin Restructuring

Plans are in earnest to refinance Petrotrin’s US$850Mn bond which fall due 2019, with a request for proposals (RFP) expected as soon as next month according to the company’s chairman Wilfred Espinet. 

In an effort to curb losses emanating from the company’s operations, Petrotrin in a statement released on August 28, 2018 announced that it will be closing its Pointe-a-Pierre oil re­fin­ing op­er­a­tions while completely re­designing its Ex­plo­ration and Pro­duc­tion divisions.  Refinancing the 2019 in­ter­na­tion­al bond, held widely by for­eign in­vestors, is seen as one of the key is­sues fac­ing the com­pa­ny whose re­fin­ery operations are scheduled to be closed in two weeks. Estimates are that approximately 3500 permanent workers and another 1200 non-permanent workers will be affected by the closure which is expected to cost the state-owned Oil Company upwards of $1Bn.  However, concerns abound that the costs associated with the closure may come out well above the $1Bn estimate due staff related costs such as pension benefits as well as unpaid supplier costs.   

With respect to the refinancing plans, Es­pinet indicated that the company is currently weighing its options, stating further, “we'll is­sue a re­quest for pro­pos­als for re­fi­nanc­ing by Oc­to­ber. It will take a lit­tle time but we an­tic­i­pate that with­in the next two months we should have an idea of where we are on the sit­u­a­tion.”

 

Source: Trinidad & Tobago Guardian