India’s Reliance to invest US$1b in crude project

On her return from India on Sunday, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced a US$1 billion project that will see the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd constructing an upgrader which would convert heavy oil into lighter crude.Part of the project also involves the possibility of Reliance and government jointly developing this country’s heavy oil reserves. In September last year, Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine had also announced the Reliance upgrader project, but this time the project’s scope appears to have been widened. Last Tuesday, Ramnarine said this country’s heavy oil reserves could be between three and seven billion barrels of oil in place which has not been developed and which, if produced, could be a “game changer” for T&T. Ramnarine pointed out that Reliance will do a feasibility study before it determines if it will invest in the project, but the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union is warning that if it involves Petrotrin partnering with any private company, it will not be allowed to stand.In a telephone interview, OWTU president general Ancel Roget told the Business Guardian: “We are radically opposed to privatisation of Petrotrin’s assets, whether it is to a local or foreign company. We recognise that this People’s Partnership government is bent on implementing a model of privatisation that is not dissimilar to the one that the PNM board, led by Malcolm Jones, wanted to implement. We will oppose it and I promise it will not be allowed to happen. This is not what we voted for.”Roget agreed that the heavy oil should be developed and argued that Petrotrin had the expertise and workers to do the job safely.

He said, though, that the issue was not money because he was confident the funds could be raised.“Don’t tell me anything about the funds because we had a report done in conjunction with the Ministry of Energy and Petrotrin, where we identified easy wins that could increase our crude production in a very quick manner by 4,000 bo/d and that money could be used to invest. In any case, the company can raise the money.”Roget said workers had fought too long and hard for the country’s patrimony to be in local hands to give it away to a foreign enterprise. He accused the Energy Chamber and its chief executive officer of being party to attempts by the Government to privatise aspects of Petrotrin’s operations.Roget said, “The Energy Chamber and, in particular, the CEO (Dr Thackwray Driver), are licking their chops at the possibility of having private ownership of Petrotrin and Trinmar and on leasing out the company’s assets. We will fight the chamber and we object to the foreigners and their local surrogates in their attempt to privatise the company.”Driver is on record as saying that the Energy Chamber supports an international partner for Petrotrin, including Trinmar. He has argued that the company has neither the finance nor the technology to successfully develop the heavy oil fields in the Gulf of Paria.

Roget said with crude prices remaining high, there was an opportunity to develop the heavy oil. He argued that once the state operated the fields, the population could be assured it would lead to “extensive employment, protection of environment and the non-exploitation of labour, and will lead to the generation of greater revenue for the people of T&T.”Roget was critical of Ramnarine, accusing him of arrogance and of refusing to meet with the workers’ representative.“We take serious offence to the posturing of this Minister of Energy, who, unlike his predecessor, Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, refuses to meet with the OWTU, which is a key stakeholder in the industry. But we want to tell him that we will not stand for his arrogance and that whether he wants to give our patrimony away to those in India or T&T; we will have none of it.”The OWTU president general said the time had come to end the politics in the state oil sector, adding that oil and politics do not go together.Roget also signalled that the union wanted someone from within the company to become the next president of Petrotrin. He said there were suggestions that former Petrotrin president, Rodney Jagai, will be brought back to run the enterprise, but that would not be welcomed. “We have seen and tried Jagai, and it did not work, and we will not support his return.”As for the possibility of a non-national taking assuming the reins of the company, Roget said that will not be allowed to happen because the workers and possibly Petrotrin management will take action to avoid that.“We will not allow a foreigner to come here and run Petortrin. This is not the Police Service.”