June 8, 2006
Venezuela considers installing fuel storage facilities in Antigua and Barbuda

(AP Worldstream) - "Venezuela is looking at the possibility of building fuel storage facilities in Antigua and Barbuda under a program providing fuel to Caribbean nations under preferential terms, the state-run oil company announced.

Petróleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, said in a statement that the company's representatives recently discussed a proposal for 'a strategic storage and distribution point' with officials from Antigua and Barbuda.

Alejandro Granado, president of PDV Caribe, an affiliate of PDVSA responsible for the Petrocaribe program, said the proposal would be considered further during a June 14 meeting of Caribbean leaders in Dominica.

Under the Petrocaribe plan, Caribbean governments buy Venezuelan oil at market price but are only required to pay a portion of the cost up front. Much of the remaining cost can be financed over 25 years at low interest rates.

More than half of the 13 Caribbean countries that signed the Petrocaribe initiative last year have yet to receive fuel from Venezuela _ the world's fifth-largest oil exporter _ due to distribution problems and a lack of storage infrastructure in the region".