Four of 11 major plants which went down because of a water crisis at Petrotrin's Pointe-a-Pierre oil refinery, cranked back into operation yesterday, union officials disclosed. Speaking outside the refinery, Anil Bhagoutie, president of the Pointe-a-Pierre branch of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU), said four plants went back on stream yesterday after Petrotrin repaired a ruptured electrical cable:
#1 Topping plant
#2 Vis-breaking Unit
#3 Eastern Water Treating Plant
#4 Vaccum Distillation Unit
The ruptured cable crippled Petrotrin's eastern water treatment plant, which produces water for the central steam plant. Bhagoutie said the central steam plant was important as it provided steam to run the refinery. He said even though the cable was fixed, the eastern water treatment plant was operating on a temporary electrical supply, which was not reliable. "Petrotrin is covering up these issues and they are refusing to give the union information because they do not want certain information to reach the public," Bhagoutie said. He said attempts were being made to get other plants on stream, including #1 Catalytic Unit, #2 Catalytic Unit, the Hydrogen Compression Facility, #2 Hydro-treated unit, the Sulphur Recovery Unit, the Alkylation Unit and #3 Vacuum Distillation Unit.
Around 9 am yesterday, Ancel Roget, president general of the OWTU, accompanied union officials into the refinery, where they delivered a letter to Petrotrin president Kenneth Allum. In the letter, Roget said they wanted an urgent meeting to discuss what he described as Petrotrin's abuse of the contract system, poor health and safety, incomplete job organisation review, variable pay for 2007 and 2008 and persistent violation of the collective agreement. Roget called on Allum to discuss the future of Petrotrin with regards to a $12 billion lawsuit against Petrotrin by the World GTL Incorporated and its subsidiary, World GTL (St Lucia), the ongoing water crisis, low crude oil production and implications for billions of dollars in cost overruns on the refinery upgrade projects.
The T&T Guardian reported exclusively on March 2 that the lawsuit was filed on February 23 in the US District, Southern District of New York. The legal action was in connection with with the gas-to-liquid plant located at Pointe-a-Pierre. Roget said the water crisis at Petrotrin was caused by Petrotrin failing to maintain the dams and pumping machinery. Contacted for comment yesterday, Arnold Corneal, head of corporate communications, Petrotrin, said the only plant that was down was the Isomerisation plant, which is due for routine maintenance. He said Petrotrin was well able to meet demands for gasoline, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), although it was facing a water shortage. Corneal said the cable which caused the shutdown of several plants at the refinery has since been repaired. "The damaged electrical cable has been repaired fully so that all plants affiliated with that are now on stream," Corneal said.
Petrotrin on its water woes
In spite of the serious nationwide water shortage, Petrotrin has put contingency plans in place to have a supply from various sources delivered to its Pointe-a-Pierre refinery, said Arnold Corneal, manager, corporate communications at Petrotrin, in a statement. "Petrotrin will continue to meet the needs of the public as we provide LPG (cooking gas), gasoline and diesel to consumers, even in this situation. "Currently one plant at Pointe-a-Pierre is off-line for scheduled maintenance, this exercise is routine and necessary, and it will not affect our ability to supply the public with products from the company's refinery. "Petrotrin will continue to provide a regular and efficient service, as we have done for many years," the statement read