Will Stuart Young serve as Energy Minister when he is appointed as Prime Minister when Dr Keith Rowley resigns as the Head of the Government?
It's a question Juhel Browne posed to the Energy Minister today at the Energy Chamber's Energy Conference, as the nation awaits further details on what happens once after the deal is signed for the winning bid to restart the refinery in Point-a-Pierre.
00:00Energy Minister Stuart Young attended a business breakfast at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, sponsored by BPTT,
00:07that addressed issues such as corporate sponsorship of bands that provide music on the national instrument.
00:14TV6 News spoke with Minister Young after the event, which featured a musical presentation by BP Renegades.
00:21As I was just telling the President of Panther and Bigwood, they have my fullest support,
00:26and the government's fullest support, and to see it coming together early in the morning of the second day of the Energy Conference,
00:34you couldn't start off in a better way.
00:36Minister Young is also set to start off the next phase of his career in government,
00:40when Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley resigns later this year.
00:44As Dr Rowley's tenure as Prime Minister is drawing to a close, he announced on day one of the Energy Conference,
00:51it is anticipated that the negotiations for a winning bid to restart the mothballed state-owned refinery in Pointer Pier
00:58will be completed before the end of February 2025, hopefully with an announcement of the selected company shortly thereafter.
01:07Once a bidder is selected, a preferred bidder, and contracts are signed and so on,
01:11how long can the public, how long would we have to wait from that to see the refinery up and running?
01:17Jewel, let's not be premature, the Prime Minister has said it's going to happen soon, it will come before Cabinet,
01:22and as we have shown time and time again, this government, every time we have reached the stage where there is something to come and talk to the population about,
01:30rest assured, when we reach that stage, we will come and we will provide all of the information in the most transparent detail.
01:37We will say who it is, we will say what is the proposal, we will give the timelines, etc.
01:41But right now, it would be premature to have that conversation.
01:45The Petrotrin model involved the state owning the refinery, which imported crude oil at global market prices,
01:51to be refined into products such as motor vehicle fuel.
01:55Since the refinery's closure as part of the government's restructuring of the state-owned oil company from Petrotrin
02:01to Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited in late 2018, Trinidad and Tobago has been importing those refined products at international market prices.
02:10So what will happen once the refinery is restarted?
02:14The formula of, because the state will have to buy the refined products, gasoline, diesel, and so on, from the refinery, yes?
02:22I am waiting to see. I have not seen what the evaluation team is going to propose to us as yet.
02:28But in our conversations, one of the things we were very clear about, one of the most important points,
02:35is we have to secure refined fuel for a domestic market that is a non-negotiable.
02:41So a domestic market must get first priority.
02:44But we also sought to find out from him whether there is one particular cabinet portfolio he will have
02:52in addition to being the next Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.
02:57Will he be Prime Minister and Energy Minister Young when that time occurs?
03:01Again, Jule, that question is premature. Stand by and we'll soon see.
03:05Dr. Aulihad said he intends to attend a meeting of the CARICOM Heads of Government in Barbados next week.
03:11And sometime after that, he would indicate the actual date when he leaves the job of Prime Minister.
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