T&T Petrotrin reclaims acreage from company in fake oil probe

(Trinidad Guardian) State-owned Petrotrin moved in yesterday to seize the assets of one of its private lease operators, A&V Oil and Gas Ltd, two days after the private lease operator lost its legal battle to prevent the company from terminating its contract.

But even as Petrotrin employees were measuring the quantity of oil remaining in the tanks of A&V Oil & Gas Ltd’s facilities in the Catshill Field off Moruga, the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) was called in to investigate the source of an oil spill at one of the wells.

Once a cash cow for A&V and its owner, Hanif Nazim Baksh, the facility was like a ghost town yesterday, with most of the pumping jacks dormant and the lease operator’s trucks lined up in the yard.

Following the lease operator’s unsuccessful bid before the Privy Council to block Petrotrin from terminating its contract and withhold an $83.9 million payment based on allegations of inflated bills, Petrotrin seized control of the facilities yesterday.

An EMA team spent hours searching for Well CO50 where there was a report of an oil spill. The EMA said it received a report of the oil spill on Tuesday evening and following protocol, it dispatched officers from its Emergency Response and Investigations team yesterday.

However, the EMA said it was too early to make any conclusions as to what would have caused the oil spill as well as to provide details of the investigations. Officers are expected to return to the site today to continue their probe.

There was no indication as to whether the oil spill had anything to do with the low volumes of crude oil found in most of the tanks. Using dipsticks, most of the tanks were almost dry, a sheer contrast to the booming production the lease operator reported in 2017. The exercise in the field located ten miles into the forest off St Mary’s Village was carried out with security officers armed with rifles. There was no official spokesperson for Petrotrin or the lease operator present.

On Monday, the Privy Council rejected A&V Oil & Gas Ltd’s appeal of the decisions of two local courts to dismiss its application for an injunction against Petrotrin. The court ruled that the company had failed to raise an arguable case with a realistic prospect of success. As a result of the decision, a temporary injunction granted by the Privy Council almost two weeks ago was automatically discharged, making way for Petrotrin to take over the field that was leased out back in 2009.