Op-Ed
Commentary
Rickey
Singh: All eyes on PetroCaribe
THE
ORGANISATION of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is expected
to announce by this weekend a common position on participation
in the Venezuela-initiated energy cooperation agreement known
as PetroCaribe.
Approval
of a working document outlining shared sentiments and objectives
PetroCaribe-signed between Venezuela and 13 Caribbean nations
in June last year-is high on the agenda for a summit of OECS
Heads of Government in St Vincent starting on Friday.
The
Patrick Manning administration, which has invested approximately
TT$300 million in an oil facility-Caricom's Petroleum Fund-to
assist Caricom partners struggling to cope with rising energy
costs-would, naturally, have a keen interest in the OECS position.
With
the exception of Trinidad and Tobago, which has hitherto been
Caricom's major supplier of petroleum products to the region,
and Barbados, which has a special refining and purchasing arrangement
with this country, the other member countries have signed on
to PetroCaribe.
From
the July 2005 Caricom Summit in St Lucia to as recently as his
visit a week ago to Guyana for an official view of Caricom's
new headquarters, Prime Minister Manning has been expressing
his concerns about PetroCaribe's potential for undermining T&T's
traditional control of its energy supplies to member states.
He
has, however, been careful to avoid antagonising either Venezuela
or threatening its Caricom partners.
That
is, until last week when in answering questions at a media conference
in Georgetown, Manning pointed to a PetroCaribe requirement
that domestic oil storage facilities must be either wholly owned
by the state sector or in partnership with Venezuela's oil company,
Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
In
elaborating on the implications of such a development, Manning
explained that this arrangement would make a signatory member
state of Caricom largely dependent on one supplier-Venezuela.
But
if such Caricom countries run into difficulties and wish to
work out alternative arrangements with T&T, they may find
that his country may no longer be disposed to provide the supplies
they need.
This
was more than an implied threat that some Prime Ministers of
the OECS subregion figured was unwarranted and ill-timed while
various parties, including "unsigned" Barbados and
Trinidad and Tobago, were still working out PetroCaribe-related
differences.
Prime
Minister of St Lucia, Kenny Anthony said that the T&T Prime
Minister "must understand that these OECS countries (linked
to PetroCaribe) are under pressure brought to bear on their
economies by the volatility of oil prices, while we all have
to purchase fuel from Trinidad and Tobago at world market prices...
"Rather
than Trinidad and Tobago suggesting that they are incapable,
or that they are unable to do anything about the high prices
we are forced to pay, they should rethink that position... It
is not easy to understand why the average driver (of a motor
vehicle) in the Eastern Caribbean must pay between EC$10 and
$11 per gallon of gas when it costs about $5 to $6 in Trinidad
and Tobago."
Conscious
that T&T had contributed some US$50 million to Caricom's
Petroleum Fund-before the launch of PetroCaribe-Anthony noted
T&T's commitment to regional economic integration and functional
co-operation.
"Prime
Minister Manning," he said, "has been a great friend
of the region. His government has advanced the cause of regional
integration. But on this petroleum issue (PetroCaribe specifically)
I don't think St Lucia can agree with him...
"I
do believe that if his government really wants to do it (offer
an alternative to existing marketing arrangement) it can create
such an arrangement that will ease the plight of these (Eastern
Caribbean) islands..."
Vincentian
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, known to have a special relationship
with Manning, told me yesterday ahead of preparations to host
this week's special summit in Kingstown:
"My
personal relationship with the Prime Minister of Trinidad and
Tobago and our state-to-state relations are excellent. But I
do not wish to get into a polemical argument with him on PetroCaribe
to which my government remains firmly committed..."
We
await the official statement to come from the OECS Summit on
the unified position in favour of participation in PetroCaribe
which, I understand could have a linkage with the oft-expressed
desire of Eastern Caribbean states to achieve a satisfactory
resolution to the dispute with Venezuela over ownership of Bird
Rock.
Guyana,
of course, which is also a beneficiary of the T&T-facilitated
Petroleum Fund and is continuing to finalise its full participation
in PetroCaribe, has its own historical border dispute with Venezuela's
claim to two thirds of its territory.
Rickey Singh is
a columnist in the Trinidad Express. Petroleumworld not necessarily
share these views.
Editor's
Note: This commentary was originally published by The Trinidad
Express, Wednesday, January 18th 2006. Petroleumworld reprint
this article in the interest of our readers.
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Petroleumworld
News 01/22/06
Copyright
© 2006 Rickey Singh/Trinidad
Express,
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