Trinidad and Tobago in talks with Quanten LLC for refinery sale -minister

Reuters

Published May 29, 2022 07:15PM ET

PORT OF SPAIN (Reuters) - Trinidad and Tobago is in talks with U.S.-based Quanten LLC for the sale of the country's refinery, Energy Minister Stuart Young said on Sunday, more than a year after the government rejected a proposal by a local group to buy the facility.

The Caribbean nation's government three years ago shut down the state-run refinery Petrotrin, which at the time had a capacity to process about 140,000 barrels per day of crude, due to losses of over $1 billion in the prior five years.

"Quanten LLC is an American company that is engaged in the (request for proposal) process for the refinery," Young said in a statement.

"The company is engaged with TPHL and has to go through the standard and required processes in these types of matters," he said, referring to state-owned Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited, which is handling the request for proposal process.