Guyana assisting T&T to source funding for Petrotrin refinery revival

Last Updated on Friday, 20 February 2026, 22:32 by Writer

Guyana is pointing Trinidad and Tobago to possible sources of funding for as much as US$200 million, and refineries to help revive the long-shuttered Petrotrin refinery, according to energy minister Roodal Moonilal.

If a deal could be struck by mid-year or third quarter, he was optimistic that work on the refinery could begin during the last quarter of 2026 in time for resumption of operations in another year, he said. 

Before leaving Georgetown where he led a delegation to the 5th Guyana Energy Conference, he told Demerara Waves Online News that President Irfaan Ali put him in contact with Arab representatives and local bankers to discuss financing for the Petrotrin refinery.

“The Guyanese government has been very helpful in setting up several meetings with entities – both banking and refining companies – to explore the possibility of partnering with the government of Trinidad and Tobago to restart the refinery,” Moonilal said.

He said a member of his delegation, who is a senior financial analyst and banker, was in touch with the banking community. 

The heavily indebted Petrotrin refinery was closed in November, 2018 by the then People’s National Movement (PNM) administration.

“We have estimated that for a short-term quick restart could be in the vicinity of US$50 million. For long-term, the full range of products, to go back to where we were as a supplier of products to CARICOM (15-member Caribbean Community), would be about U$200 million and we are working now with several entities that we have met here to see how we can best we can garner the financing,” he said.

“The Saudi investment community has been talking to us here in Guyana. We are optimistic that something can happen,” he added.

The energy minister said the funds would be used to fix technical and design aspects of the refinery, and for health and safety.

While Mr Moonilal reiterated that Trinidad and Tobago has the human resource capacity to operate the refinery, he said the twin-island nation might need one sub-contractor from Houston, Texas in the United States along with experts from Shell and British Petroleum (BP), as well as partnerships from outside the Caribbean to establish linkages to markets and technologies.

Asked whether Trinidad and Tobago planned to source Guyana’s light sweet crude to process given the fact that Petrotrin was built to refine heavy oil, he said that no longer mattered because of scientific improvements in the industry.

“That distinction with heavy and light crude is becoming less and less significant because now they have the technologies and the chemistry and so on to convert one to the other so it’s really an issue of the 80s, 90s and so on to talk heavy, light crude. The technology is there now to convert and use into the refineries,” he said.

He also noted that there is the option of oil swaps for what is needed.