India: Doubt Cast on Amerind/Sunoco Refinery Scheme
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Monday, 16 January 2012 |
New doubts have been cast on Amerind's plans to dismantle a Sunoco refinery in New Jersey before reassembling the facility in India after the Export-Import Bank of the United States said it had not agreed to finance the project.
Amerind Chairman Syed Badruddin (pictured, third from left, exchanging documents related to the venture with the Andhra Pradesh state government) had previously stated that the bank would lend €375m towards the project. However, in an interview with the Philadelphia Enquirer, bank spokesman Paul Cogan denied that any commitment had been given. "It's far from a done deal," he remarked. "We've received no application. They're definitely overstating it." Fred P. Hochberg, chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank, told officials that it had issued a letter to Amerind expressing an interest in financing the project, but the letter was non-binding.
The plan to transport and reassemble Sunoco's refinery in Visakhapatnam, Andrha Pradesh, is set to cost an initial $500m. A Sunoco Spokesman, while confirming that the company was planning to sell the equipment at its refinery, told the Philadephia Enquirer that not deal to sell equipment had been concluded. The spokesman, Joe McGinn, added that no workers had been hired to break down the plant.
PetrolWorld 16012012
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