00:00 Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley maintains that his government never closed down Petrotrin
00:05 but instead restructured a failing oil company which would have in quick time made the country
00:12 bankrupt.
00:13 He says in creating subsidiaries Heritage Petroleum Company Limited, Paria Fuel Trading
00:19 Company Limited and Amathbald Guarkara Refinery, they were able to turn profits and significantly
00:26 reduce $11.8 billion of Petrotrin debt.
00:31 In dealing with Petrotrin debt that was passed on to Petrotrin's child Heritage, Heritage
00:36 has already in interest and capital has paid $7.5 billion there.
00:42 Heritage has done so well that it is able to carry out its legal responsibilities which
00:49 is to pay its taxes and royalties to the Minister of Finance, something that Petrotrin was not
00:55 doing.
00:57 Heritage is a success story.
01:00 Dr. Rowley says Paria has been able to ensure that the country is never without fuel while
01:08 still bringing in $100 to $200 million in profit.
01:13 As for the refinery, he says while the government has no intention of returning to the refining
01:18 business, the facility remains available to anyone else who may be interested.
01:25 I was in Ghana last month talking to hundreds of people in the conference there for the
01:29 second time and we made the point publicly, if any of you have a supply of oil and you
01:33 want to be a refiner to expand your business, Trinidad and Tobago is willing to talk to
01:38 you.
01:39 There's a data center permanently available at Point of Pair where any interested party
01:45 could go in and look at it, see what is there and see whether it fits their business model.
01:53 I can tell you as we speak to you now, there are one or two people, one looks very promising,
01:59 one looks very interested but until the horse begins to drink the water, you don't know
02:05 what's happening to the river.
02:07 Lots of people want a refinery.
02:08 The Prime Minister says they have done better than they expected to in six years, with the
02:14 industry far more sustainable than it was under Petrotrin.
02:18 Dr Rowley says in 2018, the country was very close to facing the IMF but the government's
02:24 decisions created a turnaround.
02:28 In the event that you don't know what downgrade means, the devaluation of the currency would
02:33 have followed any IMF program.
02:36 So if you want to think that you could talk now about property tax is a pressure and this
02:43 is a pressure and that is a pressure, I want you to, just for one moment, only one moment,
02:49 contemplate the exchange rate at $10 or $12 to one US.
02:56 That is what this government was facing.
02:59 That is what this government saved this country from.
03:04 Cindy Raguban, Tika Singh, TV6 News.
03:07 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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