Stephenson King

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC - Prime Minister Stephenson King told parliament Tuesday that St. Lucia was now giving serious consideration to signing the PetroCaribe agreement with Caracas.

Trade and Industry Minister Rufus Bousquet will head a three-man delegation to a meeting of regional states in Venezuela to discuss the progress of the initiative. He will be accompanied by former president of the St. Lucia Petroleum Dealers Association Eustace Jn Marie and an official of the Ministry of Finance.

Bouquet said that he sees the talks as another opportunity to bring some level of relief to St. Lucians as far as high fuel prices are concerned.

"People seem to think that fuel is solely related to the cost of gasolene, cooking gas and electricity, but the production of almost everything else revolves around the price of oil and fuel, so we must exploit every opportunity to reduce that burden on our people," he said.

Prime Minister King said that his government was not anticipating any immediate benefits from participation in the PetroCaribe initiative which aims to provide regional countries with oil under a preferential arrangement.

"Out of that arrangement there will be an opportunity to pay upfront a percentage cost of the product and allow the utilisation of about 40 per cent or so which we can be put into social programmes and pay the rest at a later date, so that down the road the cost to us would be less," King said.

"We are hoping that based on the outcome of the talks, we can finally decide to sign on to the PetroCaribe agreement".

The decision of the King administration to look seriously at the initiative comes on the heels of a call by St. Lucia's Opposition Leader Dr. Kenny Anthony for the government to sign the PetroCaribe agreement with Venezuela to help bring down the high cost of electricity here.

Anthony told reporters last week that it was clear that the price of electricity is moving beyond the reach of ordinary St. Lucians and the government must act now to give them some relief.

"Under the PetroCaribe agreement, the price of petrol at the pump would not necessarily go down, but certainly supplies could be obtained from Venezuela to reduce the cost of producing electricity, thereby, giving consumers an ease," he said.

He accused the Stephenson King-government of sitting down with its arms folded, while other countries like St. Kitts Nevis, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have started receiving fuel supplies under the Venezuelan initiative.

Anthony, whose St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) government did not sign the PetroCaribe initiative when it held power up to a year and a half ago, said there is a refusal on the part of the current administration to negotiate with Venezuela and explore possibilities with its leadership.

Under the arrangement Caribbean nations that are party to the agreement purchase oil at market value but only pay a certain amount upfront. The remainder can be paid through a 25-year financing agreement at one per cent interest.

All CARICOM states have been invited to the July 12 and 13 summit in Venezuela.

CMC/es/vd/2008