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Prime Minister's Press Secretary
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 - The way is now cleared for Saint Lucia to
sign the PetroCaribe agreement with Venezuela. This was announced today by Prime
Minister Dr Kenny D. Anthony.
Prime Minister Anthony today welcomed the news that the Venezuelan state oil
company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), has secured an agreement with Hess Oil
(Saint Lucia) Ltd., to facilitate the island’s access to the benefits of the
PetroCaribe agreement between Venezuela and the majority of CARICOM
member-states.
Under the PDVSA-Hess deal, the island’s quota of oil to be received under the
PetroCaribe arrangement will be stored at Hess’ Cul de Sac facility.
Saint Lucia consumes an average of 2,740 barrels of gasoline daily. Through the
PetroCaribe agreement, PDVSA announced last week, it will provide the island
with approximately 1,700 barrels of oil products per day. This represents some
62% of Saint Lucia’s total consumption.
Prime Minister Anthony says the agreement between PDVSA and Hess Oil ¨now clears
the way for Saint Lucia to join the other CARICOM member-states that have
already signed the PetroCaribe agreement with Venezuela.¨
He said: ¨We are pleased that the arrangements are now in place for storage.
This is good news. Given the fact that PDVSA and Hess Oil jointly own a refinery
in St. Croix, it is wise to ensure that this cooperation is extended to Saint
Lucia.”
The agreement with Hess has also been welcomed by PDVSA Director, Älejandro
Granado, who recently met with Prime Minister Anthony to inform him of the
agreement reached with Hess.
Mr. Granado says the agreement accelerates ¨the move towards the completion of
the PetroCaribe Agreement, thus strengthening the process of energy
integration.¨
The Prime Minister has also thanked Hess Oil (Saint Lucia) Ltd.
According to Dr Anthony, “The Government of Saint Lucia wishes to extend its
thanks and appreciation to Hess Oil (St. Lucia) Ltd for its willingness to
assist Saint Lucia by facilitating the storage of oil from Venezuela.”
Under the PetroCaribe agreement, Venezuela offers fuel under preferential
payment terms to the majority of CARICOM member-states, as well as to other
Caribbean and Latin American countries.
Venezuela is the world’s fifth largest oil exporter and has the largest oil
reserves outside the Middle East.
