Jamaica's prime minister P J Patterson (right) and Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez sign the PetroCaribe agreement at a Venezuela/Caricom summit in Montego Bay last year.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - The prime minister of oil-rich Trinidad and Tobago advised neighbouring nations this week not to count on the PetroCaribe oil deal with Venezuela to solve their energy needs.

In response to record oil prices, 13 Caribbean nations, including Jamaica, signed the deal with the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez last year.

Manning. PetroCaribe could drive oil storage companies out of the region

Prime Minister Patrick Manning, who heads the 15-nation Caribbean Communities trade bloc, told reporters the agreement would push private companies that have traditionally handled oil storage to quit the region.

Trinidad and Tobago supplies some 60,000 barrels of oil daily to other Caribbean nations.

Under PetroCaribe, Caribbean nations import petroleum products under preferential terms - allowing them to pay 60 per cent of the cost while financing the rest with long-term, low-interest loans. Chavez has also said that participating nations can also pay a portion in goods and services.

The deal is expected to save Jamaica between US$180 million and US$200 million in oil payments this year.

The Venezuelan agreement would require that oil storage facilities be controlled by local state-owned companies or by Venezuelan state oil firms, Manning said.

"The implication is that the multinational corporations will then leave your countries," Manning said as he concluded his one-day trip to Caricom headquarters on Tuesday.
Manning said Caribbean nations would then be dependent on a single provider.

Chavez said last year that the plan is part of a vision of a "multi-polar" world no longer controlled by "US imperialism". He sees it as part of an alternative for international trade based more on regional solidarity than US-style free trade.
If Caribbean countries do not modify the deal, Trinidad would make alternative arrangements to export its oil, Manning said.

Manning's comments came after meeting with Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo, Caricom Secretary-General Edwin Carrington and other officials.

He said he would not offer guarantees to countries attempting to resume buying oil from Trinidad if the Petrocaribe deal eventually failed.

"It is a question of cutting your own throat if you are not careful," Manning said.

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