The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries is taking steps towards reactivating the Guaracara Refinery.
Line Minister Dr. Roodal Moonilal confirmed on Thursday that a Note has been submitted to Cabinet to establish a Committee to develop a reactivation strategy.
The Committee will be led by former Minister of Energy Kevin Ramnarine and will include former Vice President of Finance at Petrotrin, Mrs. Sheriba Ali-Rajack, former Vice President – Retail and Marketing of Petrotrin, Kelvin Harnanan, former Refinery Manager Gowtam Maharaj, University Lecturer in the area of engineering and maintenance, Kishore Jhagroo, Port and Marine experts Margaret De Silva Ocando and Len Chang Chow, and Senior Engineers at the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries Yashie Carrington and Anushka Benny-Sookhoo.
“The terms of reference of the committee is to examine the technical evaluation for the return of refining, its human resource required, financial regulatory and feed stock requirements, and commercial arrangements. In the conduct of this exercise, it is proposed that the holding company and/or its subsidiaries would provide support as a secretariat for the committee and make available all documents, technical reports, financials, and personnel information that the committee may deem necessary for the execution of its task.”
Dr. Moonilal said the government is now looking at practical options to bring the facility back into operation and is hopeful that the report will be submitted in four months’ time.
“We have also taken note of the dismissal of thousands of workers, direct employees at the refinery and of course the closure of business associated with doing business at the refinery over the years. We have taken note as well that the Guaracara refinery, which has been mothballed, still continues to draw down on precious taxpayers’ dollars to the tune of $470,000 per month which is paid to a contractor for monthly services associated with the refinery. We are also informed that the total cost incurred by Guaracara is estimated to be $5.6 million per month when one looks at other costs associated with the mothballing of the refinery.”
The Guaracara Refinery is owned by Guaracara Refining Company Limited, which is a subsidiary of Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited (TPHL).
The Energy Minister noted that the Guaracara refinery has a capacity to process 170 barrels of oil per day at its optimum operations. He said the move to reactivate the refinery has received the support of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union.