7 News Belize

Belize Bids Petrocaribe “Buh-Bye”
posted (September 14, 2017)
It was a good long run for the Barrow administration, but, tonight, it's official: the Government is saying goodbye to the Petrocaribe program - for the time being, at least. Why? Well, with the instability in Venezuela, getting fuel from their state owned oil company, PDVSA, has proven increasingly difficult, and it's driving up pump prices.

An official release from the Alba Petrocaribe office says "APBEL has decided to suspend purchases of petroleum products from PDVSA under the PetroCaribe Agreement with immediate effect…we have been encountering a number of problems with maintaining a reliable supply of products from PDVSA. This has, among other things, resulted in much higher unit costs of freight when Puma has been forced to make last-minute arrangements to truck products overland and when vessels are brought in half-loaded. We have also been informed by PDVSA that, at times, they have had to purchase on the spot market to meet their commitments to us: This is definitely not what was intended by the PetroCaribe program. We are very grateful to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and PDVSA for all they have been trying to do to keep their promises to us under the PetroCaribe Program; but it does not make sense to force this arrangement under these circumstances."

And, so with that - the Petrocaribe program - which generated approximately 450 million dollars in funding for the Barrow Administration over 4 years is just about finished for Belize. in 2012, The UDP government re-activated what had originally been a PUP program and managed to do what the PUP could not: generate and harness huge inflows of revenue derived from fuel imports from Venezuela. With it, the UDP were able to spearhead a road infrastructure and sports facilities program of unprecedented scale, and make massive - some say indiscriminate - outlays in public spending - which, to hear the PUP tell it - won them a few elections.

So what's next? Well, the release says that the Government of Belize, PDVSA, Puma - which currently imports fuel - and APBEL will be meeting this month to determine the possibility of resuming supply from PDVSA in the near future, or decide on a suitable way forward. Our information tells us it will likely be the latter - since instability continues in Venezuela.

The release says, quote, "In the meantime, Puma has already made alternative arrangements to maintain an uninterrupted supply of petroleum products to Belize."

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