Caribbean energy ministers who met in Jamaica last week with their Venezuelan counterpart have agreed to fast track an ambitious initiative designed to sell discounted oil in the region, Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller told the Bahama Journal Sunday.
In their move to push their plans forward, the regional ministers plan to meet in the Bahamas ﾖ possibly Freeport ﾖ in November.
Within the next 60 days, Bahamian consumers should begin to feel the impact of efforts to drive down energy costs, said Minister Miller, who recently returned from the meeting, held in the resort town of Montego Bay.
ﾓConsumers throughout the region are going to benefit,ﾒ he said, adding that, ﾓWe are finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.ﾒ
ﾓThe government of Venezuela has put a number of things on the table,ﾒ Minister Miller said.
Venezuela, which is the fifth largest oil exporter in the world, has proposed the establishment of PetroCaribe, an initiative aimed at offsetting fuel costs by distributing crude and refined oil products to the Caribbean at lower prices than other dealers.
ﾓPetroCaribe is going to eliminate the middlemen in the economic chain with regard to the high price of fuel,ﾒ said Minister Miller, who pointed out that the average price of a gallon of gasoline is $2.86. ﾓBahamians will see dramatic savings because of that.ﾒ
In addition, the Bahamas and other countries in the region plan to establish their individual National Energy Corporations which will be the local arms of the plan.
ﾓBoth [Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago] are going to enable all of us in this region to dramatically decrease the price of fuel for our respective countries,ﾒ Minister Miller said. ﾓIﾴm very excited about it and I look forward to the day very shortly when we can put in place these initiatives to enable the Bahamian people to see some appreciable savings in their energy bill.ﾒ
Consumers of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation are also expected to see positive results, he added.
ﾓAll of the countries are really hurting and the people in those countries are hurting, especially with the electricity bills ﾖ BEC bills have gone up tremendously over the summer,ﾒ the Minister said. ﾓ[Consumers] will see a dramatic decrease in [the price of] gasoline and also with regard to the cost of electricity.ﾒ
The Minister also announced that the regional grouping of ministers have established a special committee to work closely on these initiatives and visit Venezuela to fine tune their plans.
Members of the committee include representatives from the Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica.
ﾓTime is of the essence,ﾒ Minister Miller said. ﾓWe canﾴt just continue to see these prices rise and do nothing about it.ﾒ
When asked what the Venezuelan government is getting out the deal, he pointed out that that government ﾓhas made a conscious decision that their natural resource, which is oil, should be shared.ﾒ
But Minister Miller also pointed out that the 14 votes that CARICOM has in the OAS are ﾓvery helpfulﾒ to Venezuela.
ﾓWe have been assured by Venezuela that they will do more for countries in this region,ﾒ he said.
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbeanﾴs only oil-producing country, has said it would offer some form of assistance to its neighbours in the region.
Minister Miller said the government of Trinidad and Tobago has agreed to provide funding to assist countries with building fuel storage capacities.
ﾓThe Bahamas needs an energy policy that gives us a safeguard so that at all times we would have fuel in our country,ﾒ he said. ﾓThis fund is going to assist those countries in providing the necessary storage capacities
The Bahama Journal
