The state-owned Refineria di Kòrsou (RdK) has said that the Dutch Caribbean Island of Curaçao will begin negotiations with a seven-company consortium who wish to take over management of the island’s oil refinery and storage terminal.
Curaçao’s 330,000-barrel per day Isla refinery was idled in 2018 amid a payment dispute between then-operator Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and US oil company ConocoPhillips.
PDVSA’s lease expired at the end of 2019 and attempts by the island’s government have continued after several companies dropped out.
RdK said that Caribbean Petroleum Refinery (CPR), which it identified as a group of one Brazilian and six US companies, was selected from among three finalists to manage and run the facilities.
RdK said in the statement: “No later than September 1, 2022, an agreement should be reached and immediately after begin with the start-up of operations.”
RdK says that Caribbean Petroleum Refinery will employ more than 800 people, converting the facility to run on natural gas, and that the oil-storage terminal at Bullenbaai “will be put into operation immediately.”
RdK did not immediately reply to a request to identify the seven companies that constitute CPR but stated that the bidder “is committed towards investing in sport development and schools on the island.”
RdK says that officials from several companies have visited the Willemstad refinery and affiliated oil storage terminal in Bullenbaai. In 2021, the refinery said it had reached an agreement with CORC BV to operate the plant and the oil terminal, but the agreement was ended over disagreements regarding finances.
Tentative deals with Swiss/British conglomerate Klesch Group and UK oil firm SPS Drilling E&P ltd to operate the refinery and lease a portion of the 15-million-barrel terminal respectively also ended over disagreements about terms and fees.
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