ST JOHN’S – The Gaston Browne led administration has dispelled as “fake news” a report that Venezuela will be discontinuing the sale of petroleum products under the PetroCaribe agreement with Venezuela.
According to a government statement following Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, the board of PetroCaribe said the state owned oil and natural gas company, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) is not ending and will not discontinue its special sale of petroleum products.
According to the board the “fake news identified those eight OAS (Organisation of American States) member states that did not support a resolution to discontinue Venezuela’s membership in the OAS, and which member-states are also recipients of the Petro Caribe Agreement”.
The statement added quoted the Petro Caribe Board as saying “a writing will be forthcoming pointing out the fakeness of the story”.
The eight countries identified in the report are Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Kitts and Nevis.
Meanwhile, the West Indies Oil Company (WIOC) has also dismissed report of the suspension of oil shipments to eight countries in the Petro Caribe arrangement, including Antigua and Barbuda, adding that it has received no such notification.
WICO stated that even if shipments were suspended, it is not reliant on fuel supplies from PDVSA for the petroleum requirements of Antigua and Barbuda.
Under the Petrocaribe agreement, Venezuela sells petroleum to Central American and Caribbean nations on favourable terms. (CMC)
