WILLEMSTAD - GeoPetroleum, which is one of the serious contenders for the take over of the refinery in Curaçao, has expressed its concern about the current technical condition of the installations. In a letter to IHSMarket, which is in charge of the process of finding a new operator, GeoPetroleum indicated that after brainstorming intensively with their experts inside and outside of the refinery, they are increasingly concerned about the deteriorating process that is going on since the last feedstock was processed in May 2018.
GeoPetroleam says that the owner of the plant, Refineria di Korsou (RdK) is obviously ignoring this fact completely. “We understand that politics, lacking technical knowledge, do not automatically follow technical requirements. But since you, your company, with oil & gas expertise and in possession of the Government’s trust, must relay those technical concerns to the government in Curacao. The Isla idling has damaged the plant and the damage is increasing from day to day. The question at the end will be: Who is going to pay for this randomly “organized”, but overall avoidable devaluation process? The purchase price for the refinery has reached $1 – it can probably not be lowered anymore. But the up-and-running cost taximeter is still ticking,” says GeoPetroleum in their letter.
GeoPetroleum also expressed another concern. This one about the economic decline of Curacao, which has been creeping in for about 5 years at the latest and has been clearly recognizable for more than 2 years. This economic decline has been significantly accelerated now by the consequences of the corona crisis. GeoPetrolem says that it must assume that Curacao will soon be insolvent.
“We think that the discharge of 400 Isla workers recently was avoidable and must be reversed as soon as possible, in order to avoid brain drain. This island simply cannot afford the exit of educated specialists when there is a serious effort at the same time to re-vitalize the economy. It does not go together.”
GeoPetroleum says that it wants to reverse this negative process. It reminded the representatives of an offer they made in August 2018 for the processing of crude oil at Isla Refinery. The Curacao Minister of Economy Dr. Steven Martina had asked them to place a bidding offer, which they did. The company says that nothing happened after that.
GeoPetroleom again wants to offer to provide up to 7 million barrels per month of suitable API feedstock for the refinery in a processing agreement with RdK to achieve the following; Bring back Isla into a technically functioning position and stopping the ongoing deterioration process. Enable to pay the salaries of all refinery workers and stop the brain drain of human resources. And enable the top management team to develop a master plan for the refinery for the next 5 years that includes market re-organization in the Caribbean and Middle America after the exit of PDVSA/Petrocaribe and other big NOCs.
GeoPetroleum says that utilizing the available processing plant, which can be quickly organized, Curacao is able to generate its own profits directly, the necessary requirements are all available if the system is still functioning and reliable. “However, that has to be determined after more than 2 years of being idle. But sooner is better!”
