Petrotrin Refinancing concerns heightened without Government Guarantee

In our June 2018 Corporate Surveillance report, we highlighted the refinancing risk that Trinidad’s oil refinery, Petrotrin, faces on its 2019 global bonds. The company has a bullet payment totalling US$850Mn on these bonds, which falls due on August 14, 2019, and has discussed potential refinancing proposals with international investment banks. In light of the company's weak fundamentals and the rising interest rate environment, it is likely that the refinery will face high borrowing costs from creditors if it is to successfully refinance these bonds. The risk is further elevated by the fact that the government’s recent statements imply that it will not be providing a guarantee on Petrotrin’s debt. Evidence that the government is determined to have Petrotrin operate independently was given when the country’s Energy Minister Franklin Khan recently stated, at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Energy Resources Conference and Exhibition, that the state would not provide capital to Petrotrin and that it would have to rely on the private sector for capital injection.