Guyana is among Caribbean beneficiaries of President Hugo Chávez’s PetroCaribe facility, and will no doubt be keeping an eye on Venezuela’s elections this year since the outcome could directly affect them.
One of Chávez’s rivals, Pablo Perez, wants to scrap PetroCaribe altogether.
According to reports from newspapers in Venezuela, Perez has said that if he wins he would revise PetroCaribe.
Perez is the governor of the oil-rich western state of Zulia and is one of the three frontrunners who will contest an opposition primary next month to decide on a unity candidate to challenge Chávez at the elections in October.
Perez is reported to have said in the press that Venezuela is losing US$8 billion annually because of what he considered the gifts the government is giving out. He was reported to have said that over one million jobs could be created with that money.
According to Reuters, opinion polls suggest that the majority of the agreements are unpopular with Venezuelans.
Stabroek News approached Prime Minister Sam Hinds for a comment on the possible implications for Guyana, should Chávez lose the elections in October. Hinds, who has responsibility for energy, declined to comment on the issue.
Sources close to the Prime Minister revealed that Hinds wanted to leave the internal politics to be worked out in Venezuela rather than trying to preempt anything.
Head of the Guyana Energy Agency Mahender Sharma, when asked by Stabroek News, said that he would prefer to await the official Venezuelan government position on the PetroCaribe issue before commenting. He said if there were a change in the initiative then this is something that Guyana would have to deal with if and when the time comes.
The Venezuelan publication El Universal said that Petrocaribe is meeting 43 per cent of its members’ energy needs. It said this represents 95,000 bpd of oil products, while PetroCaribe countries’ demand totals 220,000 bpd.
In an article on December 5, 2011, El Universal said during the Eighth Ministerial Meeting of the oil alliance PetroCaribe announced several goals related to the expansion of refining and storage capacity of crude oil and byproducts.
PetroCaribe is meant to be two-fold in benefits: first, it provides fuel delivery at reasonable terms of payment and provides support for the agriculture industry. Venezuela initiated the deal as a means to help the weaker economies of neighbouring countries when oil prices soared on the international market. Statistics show that between 2006 and 2011, some 200 million barrels of oil have been supplied to several countries in the region, saving them a quarter of a billion US dollars.
