Refinery shutdown costs PETROTRIN $135M a day

State-owned Petrotrin has suffered a loss of tens of millions of dollars because of an unplanned shutdown of its refinery by industrial action taken by members of the Oilfield Workers' Trade Union (OWTU).

The estimate comes from Petrotrin president Khalid Hassanali, who circulated a memo on the matter Friday to Petrotrin employees.

"Deviations from the agreed grievance process as laid out in the collective agreements unnecessarily impact the operations of the company," Hassanali said.

The OWTU shut down the refinery and some of Petrotrin's operations earlier in the week to protest unfilled vacancies, the lack of variable pay and what the union says is the State's decision to grant a new contract to Bunkers Oil Trinidad and Tobago.

Hassanali met with OWTU president general Ancel Roget and an OWTU team for several hours Friday to discuss the issues. However they did not resolve any major issue.

Hassanali's memo stated: "In the current situation, the company lost revenue estimated at approximately $135 million per day which adversely affected the company's profitability as well as its long-term viability." 

The Express newspaper said it spoke with Hassanali who confirmed that Petrotrin has lost more than $945 million in the past week. "Yes it's safe to say that billions are lost in these shutdowns," the paper quoted him as saying.

"Additionally, the supply of products to our external customers was interrupted and this will erode the company's reputation as a reliable supplier of refined products in the local, regional and international markets," he added.The union is not taking any blame for the situation. Roget said Hassanali is not presenting an accurate picture.

"What Mr Hassanali has not said is that prior to this shutdown, eight plants were already down at the refinery, those producing LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) and gasoline. The company has been purchasing those products that we should be producing," Roget told the Express. He also claimed that Hassanali was exaggerating the quantum of losses.