Pointe-à-Pierre ( ) is a town in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. It lies north of San Fernando and south of Claxton Bay. It is most famous as the site of the country's largest (and now, only)

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

which used to be run by Petrotrin, the state-owned oil company. The town was built for and is populated by employees of the company. Facilities provided for the residents include a primary school, a yacht club and a staff club equipped with a pool, tennis courts and squash courts (and in the mid-1960s an 18-hole golf course and a secondary school, of which only the golf course remains). The oil refinery was built by Trinidad Leaseholds Limited (TLL) and expanded by

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Independ ...

. It was transferred to Trintoc when the government purchased the land-based assets of Texaco Trinidad Limited, and then incorporated into Petrotrin. The town is also the home of the world-famous Pointe-à-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust, a wildlife reserve for

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

located within the secured premises of the Petrotrin oil refinery. Pointe-à-Pierre is separated from

Marabella Marabella is a town in southern Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of Sout ...

by the Guaracara River and from Gasparillo by the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway. It lies on the

Gulf of Paria The Gulf of Paria ( ; ) is a shallow ( at its deepest) semi-enclosed inland sea located between the island of Trinidad and the east coast of Venezuela. It separates the two countries by as little as at its narrowest and at its widest points. T ...

and is an important port for the export and import of

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

products. At the southern edge of Pointe-à-Pierre lies Guaracara Park, known for its cricket matches. The refinery was closed in 2018.

Notable people

* Stephen Ames, golfer *

Floella Benjamin Floella Karen Yunies Benjamin, Baroness Benjamin (born 23 September 1949), is a Trinidadian-British actress, singer, presenter, author and politician. She is known as presenter of children's programmes such as ''Play School (British TV series), ...

, actress and TV presenter * Dale de Neef, cricketer * David Jenkins, sprinter * Trevor McDonald, news presenter

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pointe-A-Pierre Gulf of Paria Populated places in Trinidad and Tobago Ports and harbours of Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad (island)