TTPC:
Chavez posed serious diplomatic challenges for
the T&T government and the Caricom region-
Dr.
Anthony Bryan
By
Sandra Chouti
The Trinidad Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
02 11 07
Venezuela’s
petro politics is intended to extract more wealth
from its energy sector, but while commendable,
is a recipe for regional power play, said university
professor Dr Anthony Bryan.
Bryan said Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez’s diversification
strategy for the country oil market is an appropriate
strategy given that most of its oil is exported
to the United States and most of its imports are
also from the US.
He said Chavez’s
PetroCaribe agreement has posed serious diplomatic
challenges for the T&T government and the
Caricom region.
“The issues
concerning PetroCaribe, which was created in 2005,
have posed serious diplomatic challenges for the
T&T government and the Caricom region. The
T&T and Barbados’ governments initial
response to PetroCaribe, as you know, was negative.”
The PetroCaribe
arrangement, which was signed with 15 Caricom
governments, offers oil at a discounted price
and on negotiable payment terms.
“Neither
country has joined, but their positions indicated
defence of their national interests and also awareness
of the serious economic circumstance of their
Caricom neighbours,” Bryan said.
Bryan is a former
UWI lecturer and now a senior associate at the
Washington, DC-based Centre for Strategic and
International Studies.
He was speaking
yesterday at the South Chamber of Industry and
Commerce’s two-day petroleum conference
at the Trinidad Hilton, St Ann’s.
He said two years
after PetroCaribe was created, Venezuela is increasingly
being viewed as a “trusted regional partner”
by most energy-dependent Caricom countries.
“PetroCaribe
begins to look like a real attempt to find a regional
solution to the energy supply problems that they
face,” Bryan said.
The
Trinidad Guardian
Tuesday, February 6th 2007
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©2006 Trinidad Gaurdian. All Rights Reserved.
