PM
to meet Chavez for energy talks
Prime Minister Patrick Manning(L)
and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez (R)
Juhel Browne
Trinidad Express
GEORGETOWN
Petroleumworldtt.com
03 04 07
Prime Minister Patrick Manning is set to travel
to Venezuela on March 20 to meet the South American
nation's President, Hugo Chavez, to discuss energy
matters, among other issues.
Manning
has also pronounced that Trinidad and Tobago and
Venezuela could both meet the energy requirements
of the region, as the latter is now set to become
the leading oil supplier to the majority of the
Caribbean Community (Caricom) under the PetroCaribe
agreement.
Manning
announced his planned trip to Venezuela while speaking
to reporters before he left Guyana on Saturday after
attending the 19th summit of the Rio Group, of which
Venezuela and 18 other Latin American countries
are members.
Chavez
did not attend the Rio Group meeting.
Guyana's
Stabroek News yesterday reported that Manning said
he would be responding to an invitation by Chavez
to visit Venezuela on March 20 and imagines that
"energy" will be at the top of the agenda.
Prior
to the PetroCaribe deal, Trinidad and Tobago, which
did not sign the agreement, had been the leading
supplier of oil and petroleum products to Caricom.
Twelve
of the 15 Caricom member states have now signed
on to the PetroCaribe deal, which stipulates they
must pay market prices for Venezuelan oil but could
pay a portion up front and finance the rest over
25 years at low interest rates.
PetroCaribe
also includes a fund initially capitalised by Venezuela
at US$50 million and threatens to erode a significant
market for Petrotrin.
The
Manning administration had strongly criticised the
manner in which the PetroCaribe deal was struck.
Manning
told the Stabroek News he believed the March 20
meeting will provide an opportunity for his administration
and that of Chavez to discuss and resolve the differences
that existed between them on the way PetroCaribe
was implemented within the Caribbean. Manning said
that if Venezuelan crude were to be processed at
the Petrotrin refinery in Point-a-Pierre, which
had been the traditional supplier of oil to the
region, the integrity of that system would be maintained.
He
said this country would then still have access to
all the Caribbean markets and would therefore be
able to guarantee them energy security.
"If
we don't supply the region then we can't guarantee
the security. There is the requirement for energy
in the region that can be satisfied by Trinidad
and Tobago and Venezuela together," Manning
told reporters.
Just
last Thursday, Energy Minister Dr Lenny Saith announced
that this country and Venezuela had signed a framework
unitisation agreement that would allow for the allocation
of oil or gas reserves located in an area separated
by each one's maritime borders.
The
new treaty will see its first application in the
Loran/Manatee natural gas field, which is located
on the maritime border between Venezuela and Trinidad
and Tobago.
Trinidad
Express
Monday, March 5th 2007
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©2007 Trinidad Express. All Rights Reserved.
