Trinmar
losing million$ a day
By Richardson Dhalai
The Trinidad & Tobago Newsday
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
06 24 07
Trinmar is posting millions of dollars in losses
per day since the closure of seven oil production
platforms almost one month ago.
A Trinmar official, who requested anonymity, said
the figures have reached as high as US$680,000
(TT$4.3M), although the company has also recorded
a minimum loss of US$340,000 (TT$2.1M). These estimates
are based on the price of West Texas Intermediate
crude oil which is presently sold at US$68 (TT$428)
per barrel.
The
source said Trinmar’s production had
fallen to between 20,000 to 25,000 barrels of oil
per day since the platforms were taken offline
following the May 21 explosion on platform 21 which
killed a contract worker.
Previously,
oil production stood at between 29,000 to 32,000
barrels of oil per day. The source described
the losses as “major”. The source said
when the platforms would be returned to full production
was yet to be worked out since an analysis on the
structural integrity of the platforms was pushed
back by some five to six months.
Trinmar
officials and members of the Oilfields Workers
Trade Union (OWTU) have scheduled a meeting
on the matter for tomorrow at Trinmar’s Point
Fortin facility.
Petrotrin,
the parent company of Trinmar, and the OWTU were
also to discuss resuming the platforms’ production
at Petrotrin’s Pointe-a-Pierre administrative
offices on June 4.
Contract worker Ricardo Felix died in the May
21 explosion which left his coworkers, Richard
Phillip, 23, and Kirk Peters, 34, seriously injured.
They were hospitalised but have since been discharged
and have been recuperating at their Pt Fortin homes.
Seven offshore platforms were subsequently shutdown
following a number of safety and health violations.
Teams
from the Ministry of Energy, Petrotrin and the
OWTU have been investigating the circumstances
of Felix’s death.
Petrotrin corporate communications manager, Arnold
Corneal, was said to be at a conference and was
unavailable for comment yesterday.
The
Trinidad & Tobago Newsday
Tuesday, June 19 2007
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©2007 The Trinidad & Tobago Newsday All
Rights Reserved.
