WILLEMSTAD - In a response to the current situation with the refinery, the Member of Parliament for the opposition party MFK, Charles Cooper says that there is at least one serious group that could offer a solution. This group, led by a local investor, has submitted a letter with a concrete proposal to keep the refinery open until a longer-term solution can be found.

According to the opposition MP, he has the information that this group wants and can bring a maximum of 250,000 barrels of crude oil from Nigeria to Curaçao to be refined here. “There is no need to pay a dime for this.”

Cooper says in a letter to the government that the company can bring the crude oil to Curaçao at its own expense. At the Isla refinery, the oil is processed, and the final product will be delivered to the group so that it can sell it on the international market. For this operation, the refinery charges all costs associated with the processing of the crude oil. This includes the costs associated with the operation, maintenance, salaries of all employees and contractors.

According to the MP, this group basically wants to do this “to help our government and the refinery keep their heads above water and pay all employees until a structural solution comes”. But, Cooper laments, the group is not is being taken seriously. “There has not even been any effort to meet with the group to see if and how they can mean anything for the island.”

The Curaçao Refinery RdK told this group that PDVSA is operating the refinery and that they should contact the Venezuelan company if they want this service.