NP
CEO assures ‘gas for all’
By Clint Chan Tack
The Trinidad & Tobago NewsDay
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
07 01 07
THE National Petroleum Marketing Company (NP)
is confident any gas shortage headache experienced
by the population will be a thing of the past,
once its $132M nationwide service station upgrade
is completed within the next two years.
The company also said its products are not subsidised
by Government. It is ready to compete against any
new players in the petroleum retail sector and
will not be affected by the relocation of the Port-of-Spain
port to Sea Lots.
In
an interview at NP’s Sea Lots headquarters
yesterday, company CEO Richard Callender said NP
started to implement its service station upgrade
in January and the process has been going smoothly
to date.
He
added that the upgrade was part of a broader
strategic plan developed for NP last year. Recalling
NP inherited a 40-year-old service station network
from the foreign multinationals, Callender said, “Most
of the stations of the old network have inadequate
storage (2,500 to 3,000 gallons). They have very
small storage and from an Health, Safety and Environment
(HSE) perspective, single walled steel tanks.”
Stating these tanks pose serious environmental
hazards, Callendar said the new storage tanks at
NP stations will be upgraded to double-walled tanks
that are either fibre-glass reinforced or glass-steel.
He added that these new tanks will be able to store
10,000 gallons of gasolene and would need to be
replenished after three to four days.
Callender said five stations will be demolished
and rebuilt over the next eight months while another
nine stations (mostly in rural areas) will be retrofitted
within the next four months. NP technical services
manager Garnet Redwood said the company is on schedule
to open new service stations in Beetham, Mon Repos
and Valencia in the next four months.
Simultaneously,
NP will search for sites close to major roadways
to establish new service stations.
In addition, plans are on the drawing board for
construction of a pipeline from Petrotrin’s
Pointe-a-Pierre refinery to a tank just south of
the Caroni River to service the needs of the East-West
Corridor.
Callender
said once all of these elements are in place,
the population will see “a significant
change” in the delivery of NP’s services
to them. He added that the new stations will be
able to comfortably handle the estimated 600,000
vehicles in the country without any worries of
any “gas shortage.”
Callender
said while NP controls the majority of the country’s
service stations, it was prepared to compete
against any new petroleum retailers
but there is no evidence of any companies apart
from Unipet getting involved in the business.
“NP is prepared to compete but it must be
a level playing field. What we are trying to do
right now is get our house in order,” he
stated. Callendar said NP will not be expanding
its 14 existing Quik Shoppes and will be focusing
more on its “core business.” He said
while Quik Shoppes were not a bad idea “it
is not the appropriate framework for a state company” and
efforts could be made to franchise them out to
the private sector.
Callendar
said Government subsidises the motoring public
and not the distribution of NP’s products. “NP
pays the market price to Petrotrin, that together
with excise duties and handling charges goes to
make a reference price. The difference between
the reference price and the selling price of the
wholesaler to the retailer is what the Government
makes up as its subsidy and that is paid to Petrotrin,” he
explained. Callendar added that the price of gasoline
at the pump is “much cheaper to the motoring
public of TT than it is in other parts of the world.” On
the labour front, Callendar said NP and the Oilfield
Workers Trade Union have settled some wage issues
for its workers and hopes to complete allowance
matters in the next two weeks. He also said NP
has received permission to dispose of two of its
vessels, the NP Enterprise and NP Unity.
The
Trinidad & Tobago NewsDay
Wednesday, June 27 2007
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©2007 The Trinidad & Tobago NewsDay. All
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