Ali considers T&T for refining of Guyana oil
The prospect of Guyanese crude being refined in Trinidad and Tobago has emerged as the cornerstone of a high-stakes energy blueprint unveiled by Guyana’s President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali.
Proposing a potential reactivation of idle refining capacity, Ali confirmed his intention to engage the T&T government directly on a collaboration that would see Guyana’s raw resources fuel Trinidadian infrastructure. This strategic shift aims to transform legacy industrial assets into a regional monetization engine, signalling a move away from independent operations towards a deeply integrated downstream partnership. He argued that the era of hesitation must end, as the economic cost of delay grows increasingly steep, calling for a disciplined, private-sector-led integration of cross-border gas and refinery assets.
Central to this blueprint is the potential reactivation of T&T’s idle refining capacity to process Guyanese crude. Ali confirmed he is prepared to engage the T&T government directly to discuss a strategy that would see Guyanese light sweet crude flow into Trinidadian refineries, effectively turning a legacy industrial burden into a regional asset. “I will be meeting with the government,” he said when asked directly about refinery collaboration. This move signals a departure from the “export-only” model, aiming instead to monetise resources within the CARICOM space to insulate the region from global price shocks and supply chain vulnerabilities
