The State-owned National Energy Corporation says neither it nor the National Gas Company are to be blamed for Nutrien's decision to close down its nitrogen operations in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:00The National Energy Corporation says that while it regrets the shutdown of Nutrien's operations in Trinidad and Tobago, the decision by Nutrien is not one for which any responsibility can be ascribed to National Energy or NGC, the national gas company.
00:16The Board of the National Energy Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Limited says it is vested with the responsibility to manage the assets of the corporation, which include the Savonetta Pairs, the ports of Galiota and Brighton, as well as specialized tugs and workboats.
00:31National Energy said, quote, in the case of Nutrien, when their 2006 PUA expired on the 31st of December 2020, they demanded a rate lower than that which they enjoyed for the previous 15 years.
00:46The current board took immediate steps to implement a fair rate for users.
00:51Through the neglect, omission and recklessness of the previous boards and managers, the citizens of this country were deprived of more than $500 million.
01:00This was the quantum benefit enjoyed by users of these facilities over the last five years.
01:06One of those users was Nutrien, end quote.
01:09National Energy further said it invoiced Nutrien and all other users a fair rate for the use of the pair and port facilities for the periods after their respective PUAs had expired.
01:21NEC emphasized, quote, whilst some users made good-faith payments and accepted the invitation of National Energy
01:29to meet and negotiate a mutually acceptable way forward, Nutrien demanded that the invoiced sum of U.S. $25 million be withdrawn as a precondition to any negotiation, end quote.
01:43Nutrien told TV6 News on Thursday, quote,
01:45We remain committed to constructive engagement with stakeholders.
01:49However, we have not reached a solution that would allow us to restart operations under viable economic conditions.
01:55These challenges include $28 million in unilateral and retroactive port access fees, as well as the absence of a reliable and economically sustainable natural gas supply, end quote.
02:08NEC said the proposal for new fees was met with a threat by Nutrien to shut down its plants.
02:13NEC further said, quote,
02:15The National Energy Board held meetings with the management of Nutrien, in which the additional threat was made that any attempts to recover fees retroactively will be met with an already planned public relations campaign that they were forced by the National Energy to shut down their plants, resulting in their 600 workers becoming unemployed as they had been contemplating shutting down their Trinidad operations for some time, end quote.
02:41National Energy said it.
03:11Before whom, an urgent application was made by Nutrien for an interim injunction specifically for the purpose of accessing the payer facilities in order to allow for shutdown operations.
03:21National Energy said that upon this being disclosed to the court, the application was withdrawn by Nutrien.
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