Petrotrin
moves to raise US$750m for gas project
Jamaica Gleanner
Kingston
Petroleumworldtt.com
04 29 07
Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited
(Petrotrin) is about to tap the international market
for US$750 million of financing for an ongoing
refinery upgrading and acquisition of new equipment
by issuing a series of amortisation notes with
tenure of up to 15 years.
"This is so, yes," said Preston George,
Petrotrin's vice-president, Human Resources. "We
have a team now on a road show and they should
be going to London with three stops in the U.S."
The float is being arranged by Citigroup, now
rebranded Citi, according to documents obtained
by Wednesday Business, with expectations that Petrotrin
will tap the market by May 1.
Requests for comment from Petrotrin were unforthcoming
up to press time.
The senior unsecured notes will be redeemed in
24 semi-annual installments of US$31.25 million,
stating 2010 and ending 2022, the offer document
said. The price and interest repayment periods
were not finalised on the document.
The minimum subscription is US$100,000 and thereafter
multiples of US$1,000.
Petrotrin, a fully owned state oil-gas producer
and trader, has applied to have the notes listed
on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange for trading on
the Euro MTF market, a unit of the Luxembourg exchange.
The move to raise capital follows agreement on
the sharing of reserves in a new natural gas field
with Venezuela. Port-of-Spain, which will get a
quarter of the estimated 10 trillion cubic feet
of reserves, is trying to convince Caracas that
its refining infrastructure puts it in a better
position to land and convert thegas.
The programme involves the Fluid Catalytic Cracking
Unit upgrade, the Pre-Fractionation/Isomerisation
Unit, the Continuous Catalytic Regeneration Platformer
and the Alkylation Unit and Acid Plant.
George said the project is well under way since
2005 with Engineering, Procurement and Construction
(EPC) contract being awarded and site preparation,
in some cases, already complete.
All the projects should be completed by December
2008.
The refinery reconfiguration is to meet the increasingly
stringent international specifications for gasolenes
and gas oils while increasing volume and improving
quality of higher valued petroleum products.
Enhancement
Gasolene enhancement will result through the construction
of a new isomerisation unit to convert low-octane
naphthas to higher octane gasolene blending stock.
This will complement the recent upgrade of the
fluid catalytic cracking unit and construction
of a new 3,500 bpd alkylation unit also to provide
premium gasolene blending stock.
George said the Gasolene Optimisation Programme
will help the refinery to produce higher volume
and quality and environmentally satisfactory gasolene
blended components for the high end markets in
the United States.
"At the end of the day, we will be able to
increase the gasolene yields, improve energy efficiency
and be environmentally compliant, " he said.
Petrotrin which currently produces 160,000 barrels
of oil per day and also LPG and propane is a solid
company, says George.
Although state-owned, the company functions with
an inde-pendent board, he said.
Petrotrin, a TT$19 billion (US$3 billion) company
measured by its assets, last year recorded average
daily volumes of 142.45 mmcf of natural gas - a
slight upturn on the year prior's 140.13 mmcf;
and 70.71 mmcf of LNG, which dropped from 83.11
mmcf in 2005.
Trinidad
which grew 12 per cent last year on the back
of vibrant oil revenues - Petrotrin contributed
seven per cent to the country's earnings - has
a sovereign rating on its debt of A- by Standard & Poor's
and Baa1 by Moody's. Anticipated ratings on the
new issue are BAA2/BBB+.
Petrotrin debts at balance sheet date December
31, 2006 were US$1.9 billion, against total assets
of US$3.1 billion (TT$19.4 billion).
Up to its financial yearend, September 2006, the
oil and gas company had depressed profits of TT$1.3
billion (2005: TT$1.6 billion), despite a four
billion climb in revenues to TT$25.8 billion (US$4.1
billion).
business@gleanerjm.com
Jamaica
Gleanner
Wednesday | April 25, 2007
Copyright
©2007 Jamaica Gleanner. All Rights Reserved.
