ENERGY Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal says Trinidad and Tobago’s negotiations with Nigerian energy company Oando PLC for the lease of the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery have been put on hold.
He was responding to Newsday’s request for an update on May 16.
In February, the former government announced that Oando was chosen as the preferred bidder for the lease of the refinery as it planned to restart operations.
Former prime minister and energy minister Stuart Young said the company assured him it would not bring in foreign workers to work in the refinery and that former Petrotrin workers would be rehired.
The government, when it was the opposition, had questioned the choice, citing financial woes endured by the company.
Asked if negotiations will be continued and if the government has communicated with Oando, Moonilal said, “The entire process has been put on hold pending a review of that matter.”
After being sworn in, Moonilal had said, "The first thing is to review that matter with the refinery, whether a deal has been made and what is the nature of that deal and we will look to have an independent assessment on the state of the refinery and work with the OWTU, with the workers and other stakeholders, to look at the feasibility of quickly restarting the refinery at Pointe-a-Pierre."
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