When we asked Parliamentarian Mike de Meza for his perspective on the refinery in 2021, his answer was: From the information we received, I must say that there isn’t much of a perspective in 2021. The Government broke a contract, unnecessarily, with an operator.
That company, CITGO, had at a certain point 600 people working for them. It was Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes who insisted on ending all contracts with workers and finally ended the contract with CITGO.
De Meza, who was once the Minister in charge of Energy, regrets this. CITGO could have complied. They had a substantial profit margin, which makes them viable. “It’s a billion-dollar company, who had the money to finalize the project. The Prime Minister wanted the key, and now she does.”
According to the parliamentarian, the question is, what is she going to do with the key now. To them, it seems like she put the refinery on ‘craigslist.’ They should have looked for renowned operators experienced in the oil industry to study the possibilities of a business model. We are talking about a large investment, and we need people who know what they are talking about.
According to de Meza, of all the companies who listed themselves, none of them were renowned or famous in the oil industry. They partnered with companies that have zero expertise in the oil industry. They have never operated nor owned a refinery. “The company admitted that they would look for partners that know about refineries. It’s such a shame to see what the government has done. All that fanfare of last week was for nothing. This is all a political stunt for the upcoming elections. The percentage of this being successful is zero. As long as there is no perspective.”
