WILLEMSTAD - Public company Refineria di Kòrsou (RdK) has postponed the deadline for submitting the binding offers to the end of March. The six parties that showed interest in taking over the more than 100-year-old refinery were given until the end of February to submit a proposal. RdK still assumes that the negotiations will be concluded in June.

The extension of the deadline is at the request of the companies that are in the race to take over the petroleum facilities in Emmastad and Bullen Bay. To be able to submit a good proposal, they conduct research into the state of the refinery. There are still companies that want to come to Curaçao to inspect the refinery's installations.

Once all quotations have been received, RdK can select the parties with whom negotiations will take place for the operation of the petroleum facilities. In accordance with the planning, it must be known in the second half of 2022 who will take over the refinery. In November, about 20 companies showed interest in the refinery. RdK has selected six of these companies to submit a binding offer. This includes American companies. Former operator, the Venezuelan PdVSA is not a candidate.

According to RdK, there is great interest in the Curaçao refinery. This brings perspective for the local oil industry. The location of Curaçao is ideal for the refining of crude oil from Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname. In addition, most of the refineries in the region are closed. According to RdK, this makes it interesting to manage a refinery from Curaçao. Developments on the international market also make investments in fossil fuels even more interesting. For example, while the purchase of gasoline is decreasing, the demand for other oil products is increasing. That is why the Curaçao government still sees benefit in the petroleum industry.