Newly established state energy company Paria Fuel might operate as a holding company pending the farming out of Petrotrin’s refinery operations. That is the view of energy expert Anthony Paul who expects that Paria, one of the two new companies announced as the successor to Petrotrin, will import fuel for local and regional use as “a transitory company until refining resumes.”
As for Heritage, the exploration and production company, Paul said there is need for clarity. There will now be three exploration and products entities in the country—Petrotrin, whose assets will now fall to Heritage Petroleum, Trinidad Upstream Downstream, the company which is taking over the upstream assets of the National Gas Company and the Ministry of Energy, which has production shares in companies operations.
He asked: “Can somebody list all the assets the state has equity in? By law that should be listed in a register held by the minister which we should have access to every day.”
Paul said the lack of information on the transfer of assets from Petrotrin to the new companies is worrying.
“If any licences were transferred from Petrotrin to Heritage, that should also be placed in the register and the public should know. If NGC’s assets have been transferred, or are being transferred, to Trinidad Upstream-Downstream Company that should be in the register too,” he said.
Paul was also concerned about the future of T&T’s markets in the region, since this country benefits from the 15 per cent Common External Tariff under which Caribbean countries cannot import refined products cheaper than this country can sell.
“If Trinidad stops refining, the CET will go away. If that goes away it does not give us any advantage other than we have storage capacity and logistics and that will not last long,” he warned.
Paul said there is a lack of information and transparency in the process.
“It is clear that decisions are being made. People want to know why you making the decisions, what your options were and why you chose that one,” he said.
Similar concerns were raised by former minister in the Ministry of Finance Mariano Browne who suggested that transition arrangements from Petrotrin to the new companies will be “messy and awkward.”
In an interview on CNC3’s The Morning Brew yesterday, he said of Petrotrin: “This is a company with many moving parts.”
Browne is forecasting that a “lot of mistakes will be made,” and while some may not be apparent to the public, the “spillover effect of the mistakes will affect distribution and supply. We will feel them very quickly. I expect it will be a roller coaster.”
He said there is no clarity on the role of NP which is the marketing and distribution company for gasoline and fuel in the country. This is critical, he said, since it affects petroleum dealers.
Browne also raised questions about the company retained to hire staff for the new companies HRC and Associates. He said while he had “every confidence” they can hire staff for top level positions,. he is less certain about their ability to “put people in positions where they have to know how the valves work.”