To
recover from PetroCaribe losses
The Trinidad & Tobago Newsday
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
06 24 07
STATE
OIL company Petrotrin is aiming to penetrate
markets in the United States in order to make
up
for markets it could lose in the region as a result
of Venezuela’s PetroCaribe initiative.
In
making these disclosures at a parliamentary joint
select committee meeting at the Red House
on Tuesday, Petrotrin officials said the US$650
million upgrade of its Pointe-a-Pierre refinery
was vital for the company’s survival and
the nation would see increased energy revenues
of US$113 million annually once that upgrade is
complete.
Petrotrin
executive chairman Malcolm Jones told the committee
that economic reasons aside, the
refinery upgrade was a must “for the continuance
of Petrotrin” because of the challenges posed
by PetroCaribe. Petrotrin’s marketing manager
Ken Allum supported Jones’ view, indicating
that PetroCaribe may cause the company to lose
some of its markets in Caricom.
Prime
Minister Patrick Manning held discussions with
US Vice-President Dick Cheney in Washington
DC last month on PetroCaribe’s impact on
Caricom and other matters of mutual interest.
Noting that there is currently a shortage of gasoline
in the US market, Allum explained that this was
why Petrotrin was currently upgrading its refinery
in order to produce a higher blend of petroleum
products that would be able to penetrate all global
markets.
Company
president (operations) Wayne Bertrand said once
the upgrade is completed Petrotrin’s
revenues could increase by US$113 million per year.
Bertrand added that as of the end of May, Petrotrin
recorded a profit of $964 million.
Jones
indicated that while Petrotrin’s profits
had increased from $1.5 billion in 2004 to $3.6
billion in 2005, there remained room for improvement.
He
also spoke about the company’s plans
to construct a US$125 million gas-to-liquids plant
at its Pointe-a-Pierre refinery.
The
Trinidad & Tobago Newsday
Thursday, July 20 2006
Copyright
©2007 The Trinidad & Tobago Newsday All
Rights Reserved.
