Government has set a firm deadline of October 31st for the completion of a sale of the Petrotrin Refinery to the Patriotic Energies and Technologies Company Limited (PETCL), wholly owned by the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU).

This was reaffirmed by Finance Minister, Colm Imbert, during his presentation of the 2021 national budget in the Parliament on Monday.

“And if agreement cannot be reached on a viable or practical contractual agreement by that time, after giving Patriotic all possible opportunities to finalize the terms of the agreement, the process will be brought to an end and the government will consider other options for the sale of the refinery,” the Finance Minister said. 

The refinery was first offered to PETCL in September of 2019, at a cost of US$700million.

In August of this year, OWTU head Ancel Roget pointed fingers at government for the delay in the sale, accusing government of using the deal as an election ploy. 

“Because time is of the essence. And everyday that goes by that the refinery deteriorates is another day that the workers go without a job,” Mr. Roget said on August 5th.