Oando Plc, run by Wale Tinubu, Bola Tinubu’s nephew, has been shortlisted among the top three bidders to purchase Trinidad’s former national refinery.
Oando Plc, according to Trinidad’s finance minister Colm Imbert, made it to the final selection stage, cutting down the initial ten bidders who showed interest in buying the Petrotrin refinery to three.
Mr Imbert disclosed this at the presentation of Trinidad’s national budget on September 30.
He stated that the Trinidad government hired Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. to oversee the selection process where only one of Nigeria’s Oando Plc, Trinidad’s CRO Consortium and INCA Energy, an American company, will be qualified to buy the refinery.
He noted that the three companies were shortlisted based on Scotia Capital’s recommendation and disclosed that the same company would determine the final winner.
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“A formal selective Request for Proposals process will now be initiated to determine the winner among these three companies, with a view to restarting the refinery, if found feasible,” Mr Imbert said.
The minister stressed that the government had no intention of “exposing taxpayers to the recurring billion-dollar losses that occurred previously in the operation of the refinery.”
The bidders were evaluated on five criteria: a plan and timeline to restart operations in the Petrotrin refinery, asset integrity assessment, source of crude oil to be refined and utility requirements, which comprise power, water and natural gas.
Bidders were mandated to provide financing plans to show working capital, which must be backed by one or multiple credible financing institutions.
“Using these criteria, three of the proposals were found by Scotia and the Evaluation Committee to be worthy of further consideration,” Mr Imbert stressed.
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