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View Full Version : PetroCaribe not in jeopardy



NewsWhore
12-18-2008, 04:20 PM
President Leonel Fernandez says that the steep drop in international fuel prices will not affect the PetroCaribe agreement with Venezuela. On Friday, the price of Venezuelan oil had dropped to US$31/barrel.
Fernandez said that although Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had expressed concern over the fall in fuel prices, there was never a point at which the agreement was in jeopardy. Fernandez added that PetroCaribe stipulates different programs of cooperation depending on the price of fuel.
Fernandez said that because of the current cost of fuel the DR must pay 70% of the petroleum bill and defer payment on the remaining 30%.
He added that if the prices jumped to US$60 the DR would have to pay 60% of the bill and defer payment on the remaining 40%, and if the barrel jumps back up to US$100 the DR would pay only 30% of the bill and defer on the remaining 70%. During his visit to Brazil, Fernandez also met with host President Luiz Lula da Silva to discuss loans the government is taking with the Banco Nacional de Desarrollo Economico y Social de Brasil and met with Chilean representatives to discuss possible loans from Chile.
On the question of regional integration, Fernandez commented that Latin America and Caribbean nations needed to develop a common agenda that protects the environment and defines shared actions for infrastructural development as well as the development of a regional political dialogue. Fernandez added that the region needs to reach a common position on energy and that the conditions are in place to develop a shared agenda.
President Fernandez was speaking during his visit to Brazil to attend the Rio Group and Latin American and Caribbean Conference on Integration and Development.

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