The St. Kitts – Nevis Delegation For The 2008 PetroCaribe Summit
Photo By Erasmus Williams
Basseterre, Saint Kitts – Nevis
July 16, 2008 (CUOPM)
St. Kitts and Nevis is among 17 Caribbean and Central America nations that will make down payments of only 40 percent on Venezuelan oil, while cooperating to expand their food supply, and calling on the North to take measures to curb speculation on futures markets, which is resulting in surging crude prices.
“Petrocaribe must become an anti-crisis shield to protect us from hunger,” Venezuelan President His Excellency, Hugo Chávez who hosted the Fifth Summit of this South-South alliance is quoted as saying.
Prime Minister Douglas led the St. Kitts and Nevis delegation which included Minister of Public Utilities, Dr. the Hon. Earl Asim Martin; Chief Secretary, Mr. Joseph Edmeade; Representative of the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Levi Bradshaw and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Utilities, Mr. Oaklyn Peets.
Not only Energy ministers will attend Petrocaribe meetings in future. At the summit, held in the city of Maracaibo, 600 kilometres west of Caracas, a Council of Agriculture Ministers was created, which is to meet for the first time on July 30 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Petrocaribe was created in 2005 as a Venezuelan initiative to supply fuels, as well as extend payment facilities and logistical and technical help, to neighbouring countries that are net oil importers.
Under the Petrocaribe agreement, Venezuela has been sending 92,000 barrels per day (bpd) to Cuba and has made available up to 135,000 bpd for the other countries, although the effective demand has been 86,000 bpd, according to Venezuelan Energy Minister His Excellency Rafael RamÃrez.