Pointe-a-Pierre and its refinery facilities on the Gulf of Paria, photographed on December 28, 2014. This archive image predates the refinery’s 2018 closure and does not show its current condition. Kalamazadkhan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Unmodified. Image source · License.
Energy Minister Roodal Moonilal says the government is taking the final steps toward restarting the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery, but the latest reports of his remarks do not identify a restart date or an operator.
TTT News reported his comments on November 4, following a Divali event in Oropouche East. The Trinidad Guardian’s November 5 account placed the remarks at the Divali Oorja celebration at Debe Junction. Both reports describe Moonilal’s expectation of an announcement, rather than the refinery’s return to production.
The minister said the government was following legal procedures intended to withstand challenges. That remains his assessment of the process. Neither account establishes a court finding that a future arrangement could not be challenged.
TTT traced the announcement of a Refinery Restart Committee to July 2025, when a Cabinet note proposed a committee to develop a reactivation strategy. The refinery has been closed since November 2018. Earlier reporting by Demerara Waves in February described efforts to find financing and international partners, illustrating the funding and operational questions surrounding a restart.
The distinction between an anticipated announcement and an operating refinery remains central. The reviewed November reports provide no verified commissioning timetable, financing agreement or production target. Those details will be needed to judge the scope of any eventual restart proposal.
Leave a Reply