Oando Plc, a prominent Nigerian oil firm led by Wale Tinubu, the nephew of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has emerged as one of the three finalists in the bidding process to acquire Trinidad and Tobago’s state-owned Petrotrin refinery.

Trinidadian Finance Minister Colm Imbert revealed the shortlist during a recent budget presentation, highlighting that Oando, alongside the CRO Consortium—comprising three local Trinidadian firms—and U.S.-based INCA Energy, made the final cut from an initial pool of ten proposals.

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Initiated in February 2024, the bidding process, facilitated by Scotia Capital, evaluated submissions based on criteria like restart strategies and timelines for the refinery’s operations. The selection of the winning bidder will occur through a formal Request for Proposals process.

This significant development comes at a time when Nigeria grapples with operational issues in its Portharcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, which remain offline despite repeated production target failures by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.