Curtis Williams
OGJ Correspondent
PORT OF SPAIN, Feb. 15 -- Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Conrad Enill has announced that the twin-island nation will construct a $3-4 billion refinery next to its existing 168,000 b/d refinery at Pointe-a-Pierre.
The Minister said, although the final figure is not yet in, he expects the refinery's capacity to be in the order of 200,000 b/d.
Enill told a BG Trinidad & Tobago-sponsored luncheon the new refinery would be export oriented. "As a producer of approximately 150,000 b/d of oil, the country would benefit from being able to refine its own crude and convert it into saleable products for the fuels retail market," Enill said.
The energy minister said bottom-of-the-barrel products from state-owned Petrotrin can be utilized as feedstock for the new facility.
The government is close to hiring a contractor, Enill said, but the final figures are not in so the final cost has not yet been determined.