Oil price hike will not save Petrotrin

Its payroll is three to four times higher than it needs to be to stay competitive. No investor is going to invest in Petrotrin with over-staffing, very low productivity and aged assets requiring huge capital expenditure.

It will be interesting to see what the team will come up with to save the company.

The team needs to identify departments that are overstaffed, under-performing and not providing value to Petrotrin and the taxpayers of TT , who continue to subsidise the company.

One expects the union will march and protest daily (as Petrotrin is its cash cow and the status quo must remain — no staff cuts etc) if, after the team hands in its report at the end of December, the Government decides to streamline the company for it to be profitable.

It is imperative that wages be contained to realistic levels. The management should introduce performance reviews to ensure production targets are achieved with the specific goal of identifying any weaknesses in the system.

GORDON LAUGHLIN Westmoorings