Petrocaribe

Last updated
Petrocaribe S.A.
Type Public [ citation needed ]
Industry Oil
FoundedJune 2005
Headquarters?
ProductsOil
RevenueIncrease2.svg USD/$ ? billion (2006)
Increase2.svg USD/$ ? billion (2006)
Decrease2.svg USD/$ ? billion (2006)
Parent PDVSA
Website www.petrocaribe.org
.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}
Venezuela
Petrocaribe members and CARICOM members
Petrocaribe members not part of CARICOM
Petrocaribe retired members
CARICOM members not part of Petrocaribe Petrocaribe-Map.png
  Venezuela
  Petrocaribe members and CARICOM members
  Petrocaribe members not part of CARICOM
  Petrocaribe retired members
  CARICOM members not part of Petrocaribe

Petrocaribe was a regional oil procurement agreement between Venezuela and Caribbean member states. The trade organization was founded on 29 June 2005 in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela during Hugo Chavez' presidency. Venezuela offered member states oil supplies on a concessionary financial agreement. Petrocaribe has been part of the "pink tide" in Latin America seeking to achieve post-neoliberal development in the region. [1] In 2013 Petrocaribe established links with the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) aiming to go beyond oil trade and promoting economic cooperation. The deal fell apart by 2019 after dwindling oil production, corruption, and oil price fluctuations took their toll. [2]

Contents

In November 2022, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines became the first country to resume receipt of oil under the PetroCaribe terms. In 2023, Venezuela stated that it ended to revive the trade program.

Treaty details

The agreement was initiated with the aim of having solidarity with other countries in accordance with Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), and developed from the Caracas Accord. [3] :131 The payment system allows for the purchase of oil at market value for 5%-50% up front with a grace period of one to two years; the remainder can be paid through a 17-25 year financing agreement with 1% interest if oil prices are above US$40 per barrel. The agreement builds on payment terms from the San José Agreement and the Caracas Energy Accord. [4] [1] Energy and Petroleum Minister and President of PDVSA Rafael Ramírez said of the deal that it seeks to cut out the middleman in such transactions: "We're not talking about discounts...We're talking about financial facilities, direct deliveries of products, [and] infrastructure."[ citation needed ]

Membership

A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various multinational organizations in the Americas.v * d * e Supranational American Bodies.svg
A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various multinational organizations in the Americas. vde

Petrocaribe had a total of 18 members: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Granada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Suriname, and Venezuela. [5]

12 of the members were from the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM). At the first summit, 14 countries joined the trade organization: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Venezuela. At the third summit, Haiti and Nicaragua joined the union. [4] Guatemala joined in July 2008 but left the organization in November 2013 stating that Venezuela had not provided them with the ultra-low financing rates that they had been promised. [6]

Haiti had not been initially invited to the talks, since Venezuela did not recognize its then post-Jean-Bertrand Aristide government. However, Hugo Chávez actively "courted" newly elected president René Préval when he took office, much to Chevron, Exxon, and the US State Department's chagrin. After Venezuela had invested in developing Haitian infrastructure, and after the Haitian government convinced Chevron to deliver the oil from Venezuela, on 8 March 2008 the first shipment of oil was received. [7] Honduras became the 17th member of the alliance in December 2007, under President Manuel Zelaya, ⁣⁣ but left the organization after the 2009 coup d'état before rejoining it in May 2012. [8] Belize set up the Belize Petroleum Energy Company to coordinate for the project. [9]

Non-members

Barbados denied that it had succumbed to pressure from the United States, which has a strained relationship with Venezuela, as the reason, but has not ruled out agreeing to Petrocaribe in the future. On August 31, 2005, Energy Minister Anthony Wood said that they are weighing options over signing Petrocaribe. [9] In April 2011 Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez renewed his offer for Barbados to join Petrocaribe. [10]

Panama applied for membership on 3 March 2009 [11] and initially said it would continue to join Petrocaribe under the new president, [12] but Panama remains a non-member.

Summits

The first summit, which launched the project was held in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. [4] The second summit of Petrocaribe was held in Montego Bay, Jamaica. [9] The third summit was held in Caracas, Venezuela and the fourth summit was held in Cienfuegos, Cuba, in December 2007. [4] The seventh summit was held in Caracas, on 6 April 2013. The membership of Honduras was revived after suspension because of the 2009 Honduran coup; Guatemala became an official new member of Petrocaribe. Summit also propose deeper cooperation between Petrocaribe states and states of ALBA on basis of new economic zone. Summit had discussion also about tourism, air traffic and food security. The 11th Summit was hosted by Haiti in Port-au-Prince.

Recent development

As of 2019, PetroCaribe has mostly dried up because of Venezuela's eroded domestic production and refining, but political and commercial ties in some prominent cases have endured. Critics say PetroCaribe suppressed the development of renewable energy, burdened these small nations with billions of dollars in debt – and spurred corruption. Venezuela oil industry is in turmoil. Venezuela's oil rigs, which had been producing nearly 3 million barrels of crude oil a day in 2014, produce now less than a million barrels a day. In addition to the economic collapse of Venezuela, U.S. sanctions against the country made it almost impossible to route bank payments to Venezuela. The only country receiving crude oil from Venezuela at this type of preferential treatment is Cuba. It is still getting some oil through Petrocaribe and Cuba doesn't have the debt problems because it brokered a deal to pay for its oil by sending doctors to Venezuela. [13] [ needs update ]

In 2022, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines received a shipment of oil from Venezuela under the terms of PetroCaribe, becoming the first country to resume PetroCaribe ties. [14] In 2023, Venezuela announced its intention to revive PetroCaribe. [15] In July 2023, CARICOM members called for the removal of U.S. sanctions from Venezuela which prohibit them from purchasing oil under the favorable terms of PetroCaribe. [16]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Cederlöf, Gustav; Kingsbury, Donald V. (2019). "On PetroCaribe: Petropolitics, Energopower, and Post-Neoliberal Development in the Caribbean Energy Region". Political Geography. 72: 124–133. doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2019.04.006. S2CID   164598358.
  2. Beaubien, Jason (20 July 2019). "The Fallout From A Seemingly Sweet Oil Deal For Venezuela's Neighbors". NPR.
  3. Cederlöf, Gustav (2023). The Low-Carbon Contradiction: Energy Transition, Geopolitics, and the Infrastructural State in Cuba. Critical environments: nature, science, and politics. Oakland, California: University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-39313-4.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "PDVSA" . Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  5. Glickhouse (10 May 2013). "Explainer: What Is Petrocaribe?". Americas Society/Council of the Americas.
  6. "Venezuelan Economic Crisis Forces President's Hand". HuffPost . Archived from the original on 2013-12-10. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  7. Kim Ives (7 June 2011). "How Washington and Big Oil Fought PetroCaribe in Haiti". Haïti Liberté. 4 (46). Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  8. "Oil Industry Professionals, Trading, Risk Management & Treasury, Settlement & Compliance - Platts". 4 June 2011. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 "BBCCaribbean.com - News - Barbados will not sign Petrocaribe". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  10. "Chavez wants Barbados to sign PetroCaribe". Nationnews.com. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  11. "Panama asks to join Petrocaribe | Infosurhoy". Archived from the original on 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  12. "Panama to continue in Petrocaribe despite ideological differences - Daily News - EL UNIVERSAL". Archived from the original on 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  13. "Venezuela, PetroCaribe, and the "Orgy of Corruption"". Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network. 5 December 2019.
  14. "Caribbean Leaders Want Petrocaribe Back. Could It Happen?". Americas Quarterly. August 15, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  15. Walla, Katherine (2023-01-25). "Experts react: The US opens up Caribbean energy supplies with a sanctions exception for Venezuela. What does it mean for the region?". Atlantic Council. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  16. "Caribbean leaders seeking discounted oil criticize US sanctions against Venezuela". AP News. 2023-07-07. Retrieved 2023-12-11.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists</span> Sub-entity of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

The Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists is a sub-entity of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which oversees the Church's work in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and Northern South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caribbean Basin</span> Region of North America

In geography, the Caribbean Basin is generally defined as the area running from Florida westward along the Gulf coast, then south along the Mexican coast through Central America and then eastward across the northern coast of South America. This region includes the islands of the archipelago of the West Indies. Bermuda is also included within the region even though it is in the west-central Atlantic, due to its common cultural history created by European colonization of the region, and in most of the region by the presence of a significant group of African descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Association of Caribbean States</span> Regional intergovernmental organization

The Association of Caribbean States is an advisory association of nations centered on the Caribbean Basin. It was formed with the aim of promoting consultation, cooperation, and concerted action among all the countries of the Caribbean coastal area. The primary purpose of the ACS is to promote greater trade between the nations, enhance transportation, develop sustainable tourism, and facilitate greater and more effective responses to local natural disasters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign policy of the Hugo Chávez administration</span> Venezuelas foreign policy during Chávez administration

The foreign policy of the Hugo Chávez administration concerns the policy initiatives made by Venezuela under its former President, Hugo Chávez, towards other states. Chávez's foreign policy may be roughly divided into that concerned with United States-Venezuela relations and that concerned with Venezuela's relations with other states, particularly those in Latin America and developing countries on other continents. In many respects the policies of the Chávez government were substantially different from the previous administrations that governed Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ALBA</span> Intergovernmental organization of Latin American and Caribbean states

ALBA or ALBA–TCP, formally the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America or the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples' Trade Treaty, is an intergovernmental organization based on the idea of political and economic integration of Latin American and Caribbean countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latin American Economic System</span> Latin American and Caribbean intergovernmental organization

The Latin American and the Caribbean Economic System, officially known as Sistema Económico Latinoamericano y del Caribe (SELA), is an organization founded in 1975 to promote economic cooperation and social development between Latin American and the Caribbean countries. In the early 1990s, its representatives consisted of members from 28 countries and took part in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations, which led to a new global agreement on restrictions on trade and established the World Trade Organization (WTO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs</span> U.S. State Department division

In the United States government, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) is a part of the U.S. Department of State, charged with implementing U.S. foreign policy and promoting U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere, as well as advising the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, who is currently Brian A. Nichols.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Leon Palmer</span> American diplomat (1949–2021)

Larry Leon Palmer was an American former diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean from 2012 to 2015. He was the United States Ambassador to Honduras from 2002 to 2005. He also served as the President of the Inter-American Foundation from 2005 to June 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuba–Venezuela relations</span> Bilateral relations

Relations between Cuba and Venezuela were established in 1902. The relationship deteriorated in the 1960s and Venezuela broke relations in late 1961 following the Betancourt Doctrine policy of not having ties with governments that had come to power by non-electoral means. A destabilizing factor was the Cuban support for the antigovernment guerrilla force that operates in remote rural areas. Venezuela broke off relations with Cuba after the Machurucuto invasion in 1967, when Cuban trained guerrillas landed in Venezuela seeking to recruit guerrillas and overthrow the government of Raúl Leoni. Relations were reestablished in 1974.

Venezuela has the largest conventional oil reserves and the second-largest natural gas reserves in the Western Hemisphere. In addition Venezuela has non-conventional oil deposits approximately equal to the world's reserves of conventional oil. Venezuela is also amongst world leaders in hydroelectric production, supplying a majority of the nation's electrical power through the process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community of Latin American and Caribbean States</span> Regional bloc of Latin American and Caribbean states

The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) is a regional bloc of Latin American and Caribbean states proposed on February 23, 2010, at the Rio Group–Caribbean Community Unity Summit, and created on December 3, 2011, in Caracas, Venezuela, with the signature of The Declaration of Caracas. It consists of 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean having five official languages.

The Latin American Table Tennis Union (LATTU), or Unión Latinoamericana de Tenis de Mesa (ULTM) in Spanish, was one of the table tennis continental federations recognized by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) before 2021. The ULTM was composed of 37 national or regional table tennis associations, working on the development of table tennis in Latin America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Member states of ALBA</span>

ALBA has 10 member states and three observer states. In addition, Suriname is a "special guest member" which intends to become a full member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haiti–Venezuela relations</span> Bilateral relations

Haiti–Venezuela relations are relations between Haiti and Venezuela. Venezuela has an embassy in Port-au-Prince, and Haiti has an embassy in Caracas.

The Methodist Church in the Caribbean and Americas is a Methodist denomination in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bonaire, the British & the US Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eustatius, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The Connexion is divided into eight districts:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics</span> International athletics championship event

The 24th Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics were held at the Pista de Atletismo "Ernesto Canto" del Complejo Olímpico Bicentenario in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico, between July 5–7, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games</span> International athletics championship event

The athletics competition at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games was held in Barranquilla, Colombia from 29 July to 3 August at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 FIBA AmeriCup qualification</span> International qualification tournament

The 2022 FIBA AmeriCup qualification was a basketball competition that was played from June 2018 to February 2021, to determine the eleven FIBA Americas nations who would join the automatically qualified host Brazil at the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup.

Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency is an international space exploration organization based in Mexico, comprising several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean region. It was established in 2021 as part of the Latin American space race. According to its charter, its objective is to coordinate the space cooperation activities of Latin American and Caribbean countries for the peaceful use and exploration of outer space, the Moon and other celestial bodies.