Petrocaribe

Economists debate how hard Venezuelan economic storm will hit Cuba

August 2, 2016

Cuban reliance on Venezuelan crude oil is now being challenged, as the Latin American neighbor drops oil production below 2 million barrels per day (bpd). Cuba produces 50,000 bpd itself and has stockpiled a 60-day supply on the island; however, the Caribbean island will still have to cut fuel consumption by 28 percent in the […]

Venezuela’s energy woes spread to Cuba

July 10, 2016

Long-time trade partners, Venezuela and Cuba, are struggling to maintain a 15-year relationship that provided oil assistance to Cuba. While Cuba improves relations with the United States, it is also experiencing the fallout from Venezuela’s economic decline. Venezuela’s state-run oil firm PDVSA has slashed exports to Cuba this year; the Caribbean island has received 53,500 […]

Jamaica: turning energy debt into development

June 3, 2016

Jamaica has restructured its agreement with Petrocaribe, the credit finance arrangement that gives member countries discounts and preferential terms for the oil they purchase from Caracas. Earlier this year, the cash strapped Latin American country agreed to cancel Jamaica’s $3 billion of Petrocaribe debt in exchange for a lump sum payment of $1.5 billion. Jamaica now […]

Caribbean countries warned to look for alternative sources of oil post-PetroCaribe

December 27, 2015

The recent election of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela may disrupt the delicate balance of the PetroCaribe energy agreement. Maduro’s coalition announced that it is going to take the agreement under critical review. Tomas Guanipa, a deputy of the National Assembly said that Venezuela “cannot continue selling oil in 20 years when we are in need of […]

Against the odds, Caribbean doubles down for 1.5-degree deal in Paris

November 24, 2015

In the lead-up to COP21, negotiators from 15 Caribbean nations are working to strike a deal to keep the global temperature rise at 1.5 degrees. Across the Caribbean, the “1.5 to Stay Alive” campaign has spread in response to the fear that the PetroCaribe agreement will put the discussions at risk. Though PetroCaribe could prevent […]

Oil Prices and the Future of Petrocaribe

September 30, 2015

An article in the Huffington Post discusses the relationship between nineteen Caribbean and Central American countries and Venezuela. Petrocaribe is a financing mechanism in which participating countries purchase oil from Venezuela at a discounted price and repay the difference over time with a low interest rate attached over a period of 17 – 25 years. To […]