SVG already benefiting from its revival of agreement with Venezuela

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Jamaica remains undecided on reviving its Petrocaribe oil initiative with Venezuela, given recent signals by some of its Caribbean partners that they will be going this route.

Petrocaribe is an oil accord extended by Venezuela under its then president, Hugo Chavez in 2005, in which oil was sold to Latin American and Caribbean states under concessionary terms but fell apart in later years, as a result of plummeting Venezuelan crude output and US political pressure.

St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is scheduled to receive approximately 23,000 barrels of oil by month end under the Petrocaribe agreement, with other Caribbean countries looking at reviving their participation in the Petrocaribe initiative.

It was reported earlier that the Jamaican Government is contemplating reviving its place in the concessionary oil initiative.

No discussion has taken place on the matter

However, Robert Morgan, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for information, told journalists during a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday (October 12) that no discussion has taken place on the matter.

“I’m unaware of such engagement. No discussion has taken place in Cabinet as it relates to that,” Morgan said.

Morgan advised that funds the Jamaica Government obtained when it passed legislation in 2019 to acquire Venezuela’s 49 per cent share in the Petrojam oil refinery remain in an escrow account.

The move followed US sanctions on persons and entities conducting business with the Venezuelan government.

Phillip Paulwell, opposition spokesman on energy, has been urging the Andrew Holness Administration to seek Venezuela’s assistance to revive its Petrocaribe arrangements following last week’s decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to cut oil production by two million barrels daily.

In April, SVG and Venezuela agreed that Caracas would cancel SVG’s debt under Petrocaribe, which SVG Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves argued could result in the national debt declining by nine per cent.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Gonsalves said the logistics are currently being finalised with the St Vincent Electricity Services (VINLEC) in terms of storage capacity.

“Assuming everything goes to plan, sometime before the end of this month, we should be seeing the first shipment of diesel back with the resumption of Petro Caribe agreement,” said Gonsalves.