RIP Petrotrin

We are about to celebrate the 56th Aniversary of our Independence from Britain. I have always been extremely proud of who we are, our Anthem, our flag ( even though the stripe goes down towards the bottom like a bad graph) and everything about us. Of course, there are things that we should not be proud of but these are issues that are manmade, normally bad politics, and can be changed at the drop of a hat.

Something happened today on the Rock of historic proportions. The Government has made the decision to shut down the Petrotrin Refinery. Did we see it coming, well we should have after racking up losses of $13bn TT, there is no way that the viability of the facility would be sustainable.
Our history in the petroleum industry is well documented starting with the first well drilled to 61 metres by the Merrimac Co. in 1857.
Of note are some other interesting dates.
Texaco arrives in 1956, buying the interest in the then P-a-P refinery.
The Government buys the Shell La Brea refinery for Pds.Str.21.0M in 1974
By 1978 the La Brea refinery is closed down as it became uneconomic. This after just 4 years.
Petrotrin is created and the purchase of Texaco is completed in 1993.
The Government takes a decision to close the refinery in 2018 after 25 years of operation and billions of dollars in debt.

Has the State been successful in business? The simple answer is no! Owning the commanding heights of the economy might be a laudable goal but not with the State running anything. Somehow all our patrimony goes down the tube as a result of people not really being a good fit in an executive role but more being a political appointee. We know the story too well.

So how about we look at this 'closure' as an opportunity to really change the paradigm.

Our proven oil reserves are just not there to support a large refinery. The USA has a refining capacity of over 18.0M barrels per day. Other large refineries are all in the millions of barrels per day.  The refining business is a low margin business with typical profit in the single digits. A first-class operation could get up into the teens but this is not common. The Rock is trying to compete with big international business which is not our forte.
Natural Gas is the fuel that makes us money so how about we make a complete about turn and start producing more gas, both LNG and CNG for local consumption? One hears comments about where will we get fuel to run our vehicles with, maybe we do not need diesel and gasoline, at least not in the quantities we currently consume.
Change the deal, stop the importation of these vehicles within five years. Use that time to build the capacity with alternative sources of energy including both gas and electric vehicles. Any liquid fuel imported is sold at full international market rates.
The new fast ferries being purchased could easily be fitted with gas turbines eliminating having to have tank wagons of diesel being delivered to the port every day to the tune of $100.0M TT per annum. The soon to be defunct P-a-P jetty could be converted to a bunkering facility for LNG fuelled vessels. We would be one of the first in the world.
All government vehicles including PM 1 could be 'green', police, buses, cars! The technology is there, the vehicles have been accepted by the world.
A new energy business could be the future of the Rock!

The closing down of any company is not a pleasant sight. Peoples lives are disrupted, some destroyed, but life goes on. After Caroni closed there was a major disruption in the lives of over 15,000 families. Is it the same today? no, people have moved on, likewise with Petrotrin.

There are always huge opportunities when there is a situation like what is happening now, we just have to recognize it. Many will wake up in the morning confused, lost, their future disappearing. As usual, it will all work out.
RIP Petrotrin.

Good night and good luck!