August 29, 2005
Caribbean leaders will meet for talks on PetroCaribe agreement

(Herald Wire Services) - "The leaders of Venezuela and several Caribbean countries will meet in Jamaica next month for talks on the South American nation's offer to provide the region with oil under flexible terms, officials said

The leaders will meet September 6 in the resort town of Montego Bay, the 15-nation Caribbean Community's secretariat said. The leaders will work out specifics of the PetroCaribe agreement that 14 countries signed at a June summit in Venezuela, the secretariat said.

PetroCaribe extends and improves financing arrangements under past oil deals and calls for an expanded fleet of Venezuelan tankers to deliver fuel directly to bypass costly intermediaries. The pact intends to help small Caribbean economies cope with rising oil prices (...)".