Saith
denies
plan
to
sell
Petrotrin
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
28 07 07
Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Lenny
Saith has said that Government has no plans to
sell the State oil company Petrotrin to the Spanish
oil company Repsol.
The question was put to Saith during the question
and answer segment of a forum on the Future of
Energy organised by the South Trinidad Chamber
of Industry and Commerce on Thursday evening at
the Mediterranean Ballroom, Paria Suites hotel,
La Romaine.
Saith
replied: “No.”
Businessmen attending the forum sought to use
the question and answer segment to clear the air
on the future of Petrotrin and the Trinmar operations.
Saith
said, “We have taken a close look
at the State companies. We have said that we could
be encouraged if we streamline another refinery.
It could be a joint venture. I do not know at this
point about selling Petrotrin. It is all about
what we have.”
The three-hour energy forum was arranged to give
the three major political parties an opportunity
to speak to executives in the energy sector about
their plans for the sector if their party is elected
into office in the general election on November
6.
Saith represented the Peoples National Movement
(PNM) while Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan presented
the position of the Congress of the People (COP).
The United National Congress Alliance (UNC-A) was
not represented.
Asked to respond on the same question, Seepersad-Bachan
said she was not aware of any plan to sell Petrotrin.
Seepersad-Bachan
added that the COP had no plan to “amalgamate” Petrotrin
and Trinmar.
She
said that her party’s aim was to find
ways of improving the profitability of the two
companies.
“The refinery operation has always been
the major challenge in terms of upgrading. We will
also be looking at improving the economic viability
of the companies,” Seepersad-Bachan said.
In his main presentation, Saith said Cabinet had
agreed to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency
Initiative (EITI) which is responsible for reporting
on the revenues being collected in the energy sector
and their allocation.
He said the initiative, which was started in the
US, was being implemented by the Ministry of Finance
which is responsible for putting the relevant mechanisms
in place.
Saith said when the system goes into effect citizens
will be able to obtain records of the revenue being
made in the energy sector.
Deeming
the move “long overdue,” Seepersad-Bachan,
said that Government had proposed to implement
the system since 2004.
“We
do not understand why they never implemented
the EITI. This system requires that all citizens
of Trinidad and Tobago must be aware of the extraction
rates and the resources from the energy sector
and how it will benefit them.”
CEO
of the South Chamber Dr Thackwray Driver called
the forum a success. He said it was a “mature
discussion on a national issue,” adding that
it benefited from tough questions from a knowledgeable
audience.
However, he regretted that the UNC-A was not represented.
Dr Driver said all the parties were invited by
letter on October 9, and the Chamber had follow-up
discussions with the UNC-A but in the end the party
was unable to send a representative.
This
meant that energy executives and business leaders
were left in the dark about the UNC-A’s
energy policies in the event that party forms the
next government.
Calls to the cellphones of UNC-A spokesmen went
unanswered and messages left were not responded
to.
Representatives of each of the three parties were
invited to make a 23-minute presentation on their
energy policy and respond to questions in a half-hour
question period.
Story
by Anika Gumbs-Sandiford from The Trinidad Guardian
The
Trinidad Guardian
Saturday 27th October, 2007
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