OWTU SPEAKS 2003-09-29
EXXON MOBIL & TRINMAR'S ACREAGE
The Trinmar workers and their Union hope that somebody in executive authority – political or company based – would come forward, and quickly, to clear the air on a reported deal in which Exxon Mobil, the American Multinational giant, will share any new production that is realized from exploration in Trinmar’s acreage.
We find it wholly unacceptable that in all of their talk about commitment to dialogue and stakeholder participation, those with whom we entrust a fiduciary responsibility to manage, guide and protect our resources, would arrogate unto themselves the supreme authority to dispense, expend, giveaway and sometimes even appropriate to themselves those resources as they bloody well please.
A story in last week’s Express Business Magazine reports that Exxon Mobil made a deal with Trinmar to explore in the latter’s acreage for new sources of oil and, if found, to share in the production. And there has been no subsequent denial or correction to the piece written by Express Reporter, Curtis Williams. Indeed, the story went on to suggest that the deal was arranged over the head of Petrotrin’s Board and even the Ministry of Energy.
We recall that there was some controversy last November/December over Exxon Mobil’s failure and/or refusal to honour some parts of a 4-well exploration contract (not in Trinmar’s acreage) and that it was the Energy Ministry’s view and the Petrotrin Board’s decision that Exxon be made to pay a prescribed default penalty in the sum of circa $240M (TT). And it was that decision, over which, on an appeal by the influential Multinational, Ministerio Premiro exercised the authority to rescind, and ordered instead that Exxon be employed to utilize its vast knowledge and expertise in interpretation and other seismic activity to benefit Trinmar to a value of $240M. We saw good business sense in that detail and therefore raised no objections to it. We did not think it necessary and appropriate to demand full material disclosures each step of the way in our industrial and social relationships. We must feel comfortable to trust our leaderships at all levels. Our leaderships must earn that trust. There was no suggestion that Exxon Mobil would be exonerated from its $240M debt to the Energy Ministry and Petrotrin and that Transnational giant would share in Trinmar’s production. We then did we acquire Texaco’s remaining 1/3 share in Trinmar in 1999/2000? Was it to do Texaco a favour or was it to expand Trinmar’s potential as a major local and state owned producer to meeting the crude supply needs of our state owned refiner?
When these questionable situations exist one is left to ask whether some things continue to stink in our conduct of public affairs.
Whatever this one is, we are sure that the deal was brokered by mortals above the level of ordinary citizen. And would Exxon Mobil, by virtue of its reported deal to share in Trinmar’s desperately needed increased production and by extension hold some golden share in Petrotrin? Would somebody affect some material disclosures on all those serious issues and decisions that may have very essential consequences for all of us?
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OWTU SPEAKS 2003-09-10
ALL IS NOT WELL IN OUR ENERGY SECTOR
The Petrotrin/Trinmar story will not fade into oblivion – we will not allow it. And we wish to express deep appreciation to Dale Enoch and others at I95.5 for last Monday night’s programme. Ancil Roget, our Branch President at Trinmar did his Union and the Trinmar Workers proud and also articulated partly, interest of the Petrotrin Workers- at all levels.
The Executive Chairman of Petrotrin, the Board of Directors and the Political Directorate had better take note that all is not well at the three (3) major areas of the State’s involvement in our key and economically strategic energy sector – Petrotrin, Trinmar and NP and that the Workers and their Union are being provoked into action at a very crucial time indeed – a time when crude Prices are above US $29, Product Prices are sound and we are only two (2) months away from what promises to be a very cold Winter. The demonstration by Petrotrin workers yesterday, on matters unrelated to any merger of Petrotrin with Trinmar, if objectively investigated will reveal the basis on which fears and doubts about the ability and scope of the Executive Management – baring two – are founded. And the authorities will do well to ignore the shallow surface comments of these with private agendas highlighted in today’s Express Business Forum. Krishna Persad of Moraven fame is licking his chops for a piece of Trinmar in Wayne Bertrand’s promised joint ventures in 2005-2006. in fact, the Petrotrin high filers have spent the last eleven (11) years carving up the State’s E&P acreages for Joint Ventures, Farm Outs and Lease Operator-ships to the KPA’s and political bagmen and cronies to the extent that the management has forgotten how to prospect and produce oil themselves. The real people are gone and those who are now in office – baring two (2) as I iterated earlier can only manage contracts that certainly tease the interests people like Mr. Elias, former PTR Director. As for the other commentator – it is sufficient for me to say that the better qualified and experienced HSEQ managerial personnel at Trinmar could not co-exist with the mediocrity of an inferior Petrotrin Management under which they were being fobbed. The reality gentlemen are that there are only very depleted services at Petrotrin that Trinmar can very remotely benefit from. That is the case of the Trinmar Worker and his Union as we seek to increase Trinmar’s Production unhibited to serve Petrotrin and the shareholder and the country better.
The case of Petrotrin worker and his Union is for Executive Management leadership that subscribes to opening up the fullest potential of oil in the P&T family (so called) – committing to agreements truly arrived at and setting examples of hard work, fair play and commitment to company and country. Not like in the private business of buy – make up and sell – like in the privileged acquisition of a PBG Volvo for $25K and advertising the same item.
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OWTU SPEAKS 2003-09-08
PETROTRIN IS OVER MANAGED AND UNDERLED
Petrotrin’s dilemma is on many horns. It has engaged in so many cuts that it is now almost with a noseless and disfigured face. Political opportunism has, for the past few years, shaped its corporate psyche while its directorate its captains and their carpet baggers allowed important business opportunities to pass by. And that situation continues unabated it seems with a President of Operations ready with his own brand new hatchet to cut even further. And it seems beyond that comprehension of the management simpletons that there is greater benefit to employing organizational cost effectiveness than the very expensive and redundant cost cutting programmes which help to hide management inefficiencies and incompetence.
Petrotrin continues to be over managed and underled and at very high present and future costs.
In his recent address to the South Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Petrotrin’s President of Operations intimated that the Company has some plans to reduce staff but that the company could not afford to shut down – they cannot shut down – they are not allowed to shut down. But as the Head of operations (Hoper) makes his contradictory and confused mouthing, the fundamentals in his “Strategic Directions for Petrotrin” point to a drastically scaled back Refining and Production operations if not a total shut down of the Company. The fact of the matter for those who may have come in late – is that outside of managerial and political bag-carrying appointments, the Company had shut down on recruitment and training while it went about cutting permanent staff without rhyme or reason. So much so, that on the resignation of three (3) lower level members of Process Operations staff, two multi-million and strategically important operating units had to be shut down for a month just three (3) years ago. And this latter bit of information is well known to all in the strategic Directions Planning Mechanism including the jefes now heading the Operations Group at the Company.
We insist that Petrotrin’s problems are that the Company is over managed and underled and will not be prepared for FTAA in 2005, 2010 or 2020 – not with the thinking of its present captains and directorate anyway.
A joint venture partner as promulgated by Wayne Bertrand and as will be resisted by the OWTU, will not benefit this country any more than a well managed, sensibly led, strategically reorganized and expansion focused fully state owned Petrotrin. A joint venture partner will bring nothing more than we already have here. They will certainly demand full management control and they have already determined that the run down Texaco Refinery by itself is not worth their while, so that if a deal is to be made, Trinmar with a reactivated Soldado field, Galeota and Pelican must be thrown in the pot. By end 2006, Bertrand and at least two (2) others among the strategically misdirected should be gone by retirement if not earlier and by other means but we can ill-afford to let them spoil now what we will depend on later and beyond.
Even the President’s few contractors who make up the Chamber will not benefit from surrender to a foreign joint venture partner in the Refinery and Producing assets. We will not shut down Petrotrin to foreign interests’ benefits nor will we sacrifice Trinmar and our other lucrative and profitable assets.
It is not Mr. Bertrand’s authority to determine whether we abandon the state ownership culture and adopt the private ownership business paradigm. That is a matter for the politicians and the people who are the virtual shareholders of Petrotrin and Trinmar. And that the competition from Curacao and Aruba has increased indicates that at Pointe-a-Pierre we have a management that has retired on the job and whose vision is an inward constriction and hopelessness – no expansion, no growth, no development.
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OWTU SPEAKS 2003-09-05
PETROTRIN'S STAFF CUTS
Petrotrin has been cutting staff since 1993 by the hundreds each year, yet at every performance audit, the Company seems to be drifting closer to the bottom of the fourth quartile of its class. The many and continuing staff cuts and reorganizations and corporate restructuring have cut deeper below any sensible efficiency level and have put the country’s most important and strategically placed state sector company in a tailspin. There are still many people on the company’s payroll through – the super exploited On-the-Job trainees, temporary workers, consultants and contractor employees but Petrotrin if anything, is short staffed – denuded as it has been of the scores of experienced, well trained, loyal and committed hands and heads who were forced out by political agendas and a shallow enterprise ideology juxtaposed by state sector objectives and responsibility.
Petrotrin is threatened by its Head of operations withy more of the same medicine that has debilitated it and put it in near rigor mortis. The patient, if it must survive, must retire the Head of operations and others who are marking time on one spot checking pennies but missing golden opportunities. Indeed, the Head of operations, would have long been dismissed or asked to resign for incompetence in the other corporate culture which Wayne Bertrand seems to fancy. And that is another aspect of the problem of the staff cuts that has afflicted Petrotrin – the better managers and Vice President Operations never posed a challenge nor is he really up to the challenge now of taking a viable and people centered Petrotrin forward.
It is for all these reasons and more that Trinmar should be saved from the blight that portends a return to the days of heels and knees suffering carpet burns. The power to determine a merger or some other important strategic alliance between Petrotrin and Trinmar should not be arrogantly or flippantly imposed or decided. Those in authority, if they put their private agendas aside for the time being may well find that it is to Petrotrin’s longer term benefit to not envelope Trinmar’s operations at this time or we may be volunteering all that we have to the sharks to whom Petrotrin is appealing. And it is with respect that we must suggest to the Honourable Prime Minister that Petrotrin and Trinmar cannot be properly and efficiently run from Whitehall as Caroni was over the last six (6) years of UNC rule or both Petrotrin and Trinmar will be shut down. These state sector companies – and they are the most important – need competent Executive Management and leadership with vision at their helm not executive employees walking backwards and without direction – carrying messages which they do not themselves understand. The South Chamber must themselves be confused about Bertrand’s and Petrotrin’s readiness for FTAA and their subscription to vision 2020. A strategic direction cuts staff and bring about economic contraction and all of the social consequences is the making of the vision impaired.