Russian President Vladimir Putin’s diabolical war with the Ukraine has reset the global architecture on oil production, oil distribution, and climate change, at least in the short term.

It has temporarily distracted the world from pursuing the importance of fossil fuel with respect to climate change. But it has also hastened the need to develop green energy solutions as an answer to the world’s hungry energy needs. This winter will be instructive in testing the global resolve to make the transition from fossil fuels to green energy solutions for long-term survival, not just as a necessity forced upon it by Putin’s war.

There are no easy options on both sides of the equation. The problem has shown how dependent the world is on fossil fuels as a global energy source. It has demonstrated how difficult it is to discard this source for new, green energy technologies. And this is regrettable, for climate change is rapidly occurring, no matter what human beings may desire. Nature will always do what it has to. As long as we continue to depend on fossil fuels to power the world the hotter the climate will get until, God forbid, we reach a point of no return. So we are in a great pickle.

Which brings us to Jamaica. As a small developing island State that has an abundance of natural resources, excluding oil, we are faced with the harsh realities of the spiralling cost of energy. Oil represents one of the biggest demands on our import bill. We do not possess the power to influence oil prices to our advantage, and like other states in our predicament, we are at the mercy of the big oil producers. We have to, therefore, handle our relationships with those powers with wisdom and a heavy dose of common-sense diplomacy. I believe the way in which we handled our relationship with Venezuela in the PetroCaribe agreement might just have sullied our relationship with that country when we are now faced with a dire need as oil prices head for Mars.

Some will argue that the embargo that the United States placed on the Nicolás Maduro Regime was an important factor in that strained relationship as we had to abide by the sanctions imposed or suffer consequences in continuing to support the agreement. There is some truth in this, but it is not the full picture. A big elephant in the room is the Government’s repurchase of Venezuela’s 49 per cent stake in the Petrojam refinery in 2008. Recall that, at the time of the repurchase, Venezuela’s back was against the wall. The Venezuelan State oil refinery, Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), was not able to fulfil its obligation in the expansion of the refinery as was agreed on. What with the US sanctions and internal political crises causing a big drop in production and forcing Venezuela to sharply reduce the price of its oil on the world market. The Andrew Holness Administration seemed to have taken advantage of Venezuela’s petro demise to legislatively expropriate its share of the refinery. It is difficult not to agree with those who argue that this was a slap in the face of the Venezuelans who had proven to be friends of Jamaica. None can gainsay that we benefited tremendously from the arrangement under PetroCaribe. We were able to import oil at cheaper costs per barrel and had generous repayment terms for such imports, to boot.

The proceeds of the expropriated Venezuelan shares are being held in escrow pending the directions of the US sanctions against it. Forced by the necessity to keep global oil prices low or at least at a manageable level, the Joe Biden Administration is beginning to look at its relationship with Venezuela for them to increase production. This is a pragmatic step to take, as was that taken when he visited Saudi Arabia and fist-bumped Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud recently. Diplomacy is not a stagnant thing. You do what is necessary, especially when the exigencies of the situation demand that you act.

In recent times Venezuela has been lobbying Caribbean states to negotiate terms for a new PetroCaribe agreement. It, too, is being pragmatic in doing what it has to do in its own self-interest. Where is the Holness Administration’s thinking in this rebooting on the part of the Venezuelans? Will it be too ashamed to initiate any overture to the Venezuelans when a new agreement comes on stream? Might we have burnt one bridge too many with the Venezuelans? With respect to the last question, I do not think we have, but humility is never weakness in seeking to restore that which is broken.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storm; Your Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life; and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.