T&T, Indian Oil in Talks to Restart Refinery

  • Trinidad and Tobago is in talks with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd to restart the Guaracara oil refinery, Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal noted.
  • Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar met with the chairman of the Refinery Reactivation Committee, Kevin Ramnarine and its members last month to review progress on restarting the former Petrotrin refinery.
  • On Thursday, Moonilal led a delegation from this country in a series of bilateral meetings and an exhibition tour, engaging with several international energy companies. The delegation included the chairman of Guaracara Refining Company Ltd, Gowtam Maharaj, the chairman of Heritage Petroleum Company Ltd, Kurt Ramlal and the acting senior chemical engineer at the Energy Ministry, Terrance Ali.
  • “During these discussions, Minister Moonilal and the delegation shared insights into Trinidad and Tobago’s energy sector, highlighting the country’s upstream potential and the Government’s plans to restart the Pointe-à-Pierre Refinery,” a release from the Energy Ministry stated.
  • Moonilal also told Reuters that while the country would consider resuming imports of Venezuelan crude once the refinery is operational, Moonilal said the immediate focus of engagement with Caracas remains the development of shared offshore gas resources. It was also noted that direct negotiations are preferred for awarding exploration blocks, citing their speed compared with bidding rounds. Trinidad and Tobago last month missed its own deadline to award three deepwater blocks to China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).
  • The Ministry of Energy’s permanent secretary, Karinsa Tulsie, told Reuters she could not comment on the reasons for the delay. US oil major ExxonMobil was awarded an ultra-deepwater block through direct negotiations in August last year. The Government has also approached Chevron to gauge interest in offshore exploration and is holding talks with global companies, including TotalEnergies, which is developing a deepwater discovery in neighbouring Suriname, he added.

(Source: Trinidad Express)