Fourteen out of 16 Caribbean countries supported the creation of Petro-Caribbean during the region’s first Heads of State Energy Summit. Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados excused their refusal to sign by saying they needed more time to study the initiative with their countries’ legislative branches. The final declaration was signed by Venezuela, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and the DR. Petrocaribbean is a Venezuelan initiative aimed at creating a state-owned energy company in the Caribbean, which would avoid the negative effect of increasing crude oil prices on the region’s impoverished economies. Caribbean countries currently import oil from the Persian Gulf at “premium” prices, similar to those paid by developed nations. By avoiding intermediaries, the Caribbean petroleum company seeks to help the region’s countries form a network that will provide petroleum derivates at accessible prices.
During a speech at the summit, President Leonel Fernandez warned that the increase in petroleum prices would lead to recession and inflation in Latin American economies, resulting in a decrease in GDP and higher prices for consumer goods. He congratulated Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez for the initiative, saying that it would prevent a crisis “of profound consequences, instability and turbulence”. The upward trend in the price of oil could see prices going up to as much as US$100 per barrel although it registered a small US$2 decrease yesterday. The price per barrel on the New York market closed higher than US$58.