Venezuela will finance 25% of its oil exports to the Dominican Republic. The announcement took place at the Presidential Palace in Santo Domingo. The agreement will allow the Dominican government to defer payment of around US$150 million per year, and this money can be used for infrastructure improvements.
Venezuelan Energy & Mining Minister Rafael Ramirez Montas, Technical Secretary of the Presidency Temistocles Montas and Secretary of the Presidency Danilo Medina made the announcement. Hoy newspaper reported that Montas, Medina and ambassador Miguel Mejia were the chief negotiators for the DR. Ramirez head the delegation of technicians from Petroleos de Venezuela (Pedvesa).
The announcement was made after the Venezuelan minister met with President Leonel Fernandez for over an hour to round out the assistance package. Still pending in the agreement are the exact credit terms and the amounts of petroleum that will be involved in the deal.
According to Ramirez, they met to get the Caracas accords back on track, since petroleum prices can affect the amounts of oil that will be made available for this special treatment. Ramirez said that the technicians will work out all of the details at later meetings.
Sources in Caracas said that the Dominican Republic is looking to obtain the same deal that the Chavez government has given to Cuba. This would permit the financing of about 50,000 barrels of oil per day at current rates of consumption. The Dominican oil bill for the year is calculated to be between US$1.5 and US$2.0 billion.