This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CARACAS 003560 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR WH AFFAIRS FISK 
ENERGY FOR CDAY, DPUMPHREY, AND ALOCKWOOD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/11/2015 
TAGS: EPET EINV BH VE
SUBJECT: PETROCARIBE RECAP 
 
REF: A. CARACAS 2027 
     ¶B. GEORGETOWN 00686 
     ¶C. BELIZE 00952 
     ¶D. CARACAS 03260 
 
Classified By: Economic Counselor Andrew N. Bowen for Reason 1.4 (D) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY: The GOV has begun negotiations with Haiti 
over its accession to Petrocaribe.  If Haiti joins 
Petrocaribe, it will receive better financing terms than it 
currently receives under the Caracas Energy Accord, which it 
signed in 2000.  International oil companies operating in 
Venezuela have expressed concern over Petrocaribe but have 
not seen any adverse impact on their Venezuelan operations. 
Shipping problems could produce serious problems for 
Petrocaribe partners and the private sector companies that 
own infrastructure in the Caribbean.  This cable provides a 
review of these issues and the state-of-play of Petrocaribe. 
SUMMARY 
 
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BRIEF OVERVIEW OF PETROCARIBE 
----------------------------- 
¶2.  (U) Fourteen countries (Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, 
Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, the 
Dominican Republic, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent 
& the Grenadines, Surinam, and Venezuela) are currently 
signatories of the Petrocaribe Energy Cooperation Agreement. 
As reported in Reftel A & B, state entities importing oil 
under Petrocaribe will have a two year grace period and a 17 
year timetable for repayment at a two percent interest rate 
when the price of oil is below 40 USD per barrel.  When the 
price of oil is above 40 USD per barrel the payment period is 
25 years and the interest rate drops to one percent. 
 
¶3.  (U) The amount of oil that may be financed depends on the 
price per barrel of oil ranging from five percent when the 
price is 15 USD to 50 percent when the price is 100 USD or 
above.   Buyers have 90 days to pay for oil that is not 
subject to financing.  PDVSA has stated it will accept 
partial payment in goods and services.  Among the items that 
it has mentioned it may be willing to accept are sugar, 
bananas, and "other goods and services affected by the trade 
policies of wealthy countries". 
 
¶4.  (C) It is our understanding that the 15,000 barrel 
shipment to Belize in Reftel C was the first shipment under 
Petrocaribe.  Shipments to eastern Caribbean islands are 
scheduled to depart this month.  Total consumption for 
Petrocaribe members is slightly above 198,000 barrels per day 
with Cuba accounting for approximately 98,000 barrels.  In a 
meeting with a visiting GAO delegation reported in Reftel D, 
Energy Minister Ramirez stated Venezuela will supply eastern 
Caribbean countries with 10,000 barrels per day.  He added 
that Venezuela will supply Cuba, Jamaica, and the Dominican 
Republic with 180,000 barrels per day under Petrocaribe.  A 
private sector analyst in Caracas has estimated that 
Jamaica's fuel consumption is 21,000 barrels per day and the 
Dominican Republic's is 50,000 barrels per day.  (NOTE: It 
should be noted that Venezuela has been shipping Cuba oil at 
preferential rates outside of the Petrocaribe framework for 
sometime.  We believe those shipments to be currently around 
90,000 barrels per day.  END NOTE) 
 
¶5.  (U) As noted in Reftels A & B, Venezuela will provide 
shipping and infrastructure to the rest of the participants 
in Petrocaribe.  PDVSA and the Cuban Ministry of 
Transportation recently signed an agreement that lays the 
basis for the creation of a joint venture company that will 
handle the shipment of oil and refined products under 
Petrocaribe.  The agreement appears to be light on details. 
PDVSA has publicly stated an additional agreement will be 
necessary for the formation of the joint venture but has not 
given a time frame for its signature. 
 
¶6.  (U)  According to a PDVSA press release in July 2005, 
PDVSA will utilize its existing BORCO storage facility with a 
capacity of 15 million barrels in the Bahamas for 
Petrocaribe.  PDVSA plans on building a storage and 
distribution facility in Dominica with a capacity of 25,000 
barrels.  PDVSA and Cuba will also build up storage capacity 
at the Matanzas terminal in Cuba from its current level of 
two million barrels to 3.6 million barrels.  Finally, PDVSA 
and Cuba will also build a 600,000 barrel storage facility at 
the Cienfuegos refinery in Cuba.  PDVSA described both the 
Matanzas and Cienfuegos projects as "long-term" in nature. 
All of the operations listed above will be coordinated by PDV 
Caribe, a PDVSA affiliate that is headquartered in Cuba. 
 
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HAITI 
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¶7.  (U)  A PDVSA delegation headed by Vice President for 
Refining and PDV Caribe Alejandro Granado visited Haiti at 
the end of October to discuss the inclusion of Haiti in 
Petrocaribe.  The visit stemmed from an announcement by 
President Chavez on his weekly television program that Haiti 
would be joining Petrocaribe.  According to PDVSA, Haiti had 
an internal demand of 11,000 barrels per day in 2001.  Haiti 
will be offered the same pricing and financing terms as the 
rest of the Petrocaribe members.  Haiti signed the Caracas 
Energy Accord in 2000.  Under that agreement, Venezuela 
agreed to supply Haiti with 6,000 barrels of oil per day. 
Haiti has a 15 year timetable for repayment with a one year 
grace period and an interest rate of two percent.  The amount 
of oil that can currently be financed is 25 percent based on 
a 30 USD price per barrel.  The amount that can be financed 
will fall if the price per barrel falls. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
REACTION FROM OIL COMPANIES OPERATING IN VENEZUELA 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶8.  (C)  In a meeting on November 23, Carlos Rodriguez, 
ExxonMobil's Government Relations Manager in Venezuela, told 
us that his company is very concerned about Petrocaribe in 
light of the recent shipment to Belize (See Reftel C).  He 
complained that PDVSA is basically shipping the oil without 
paying any attention to shipping schedules or the 
specifications of the cargo.  When asked if ExxonMobil had 
faced any repercussions due the objections it raised to 
receiving the Belize shipment, Rodriguez answered in the 
negative. 
 
¶9.  (C)  A senior executive with Sargent Marine (strictly 
protect), a U.S. shipping company that specializes in 
asphalt, told us that he does not believe that Petrocaribe 
will have much of an impact in the short term for the private 
sector since most of the infrastructure in the Caribbean 
belongs to the private sector.  However, he expected 
competition to increase in the medium to long term as PDVSA 
begins building infrastructure for the state entities that 
participate in Petrocaribe.  Shell recently signed a one year 
contract with Sargent to supply the Caribbean and the 
contract contains language for a one year extension. 
 
--------------------------------- 
SHIPPING COULD BE A MAJOR PROBLEM 
--------------------------------- 
¶10. (C) PDVSA's decline in operating efficiency may have a 
significant impact on its ability to supply its Petrocaribe 
partners.  According to the Sargent Marine executive, 
Venezuelan shipping terminals have become a "nightmare" for 
shippers, particularly Amuay.  He complained that one of his 
ships recently had to wait four days for loading. 
 
¶11.  (C) The executive also noted a recent tanker accident in 
the Maracaibo shipping channel resulted in significant delays 
for tankers.  The fuel oil spill that resulted from the 
accident was not serious.  However, due to a four day delay 
by authorities in coming up with contingency plan and 
mistakes in the cleanup, the spill resulted in loading 
delays.  The delay in loading cargoes eventually produced 
serious production problems as storage space ran out.  PDVSA 
ordered one tanker to load at night despite the fact that 
there was still a significant amount of fuel oil remaining 
from the spill.  PDVSA did not warn the captain of the tanker 
about the spill and he awoke the next morning to find his 
tanker anchored in the middle of an oil spill.  PDVSA 
diverted oil to Amuay and the refining complex in Cardon but 
the shift played havoc with production and loading schedules. 
 The executive said a each one day delay created a loss of 
42,000 USD per vessel.  According to the executive, PDVSA 
hired ex-employees to deal with the spill when its own 
efforts failed. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶12.  (C) Given the poor state of Venezuelan shipping 
terminals, Venezuela's Petrocaribe partners may find 
themselves waiting for significant periods of time for their 
promised shipments.  The problems ExxonMobil faced in Belize 
as outlined in Reftel C could be the beginning of a long line 
of shipping and specification headaches for the private 
sector companies that own shipping, storage, and distribution 
networks in the Caribbean as they adapt to life with 
Petrocaribe. 
 
¶13.  (C) Petrocaribe, in addition to the recent moves on the 
part of the GOV to supply fuel oil to lower income families 
in the U.S., gives the GOV an excellent opportunity to come 
across as kind and compassionate while at the same time 
offering the chance to tar international oil companies (IOCs) 
as price gougers preying on the poor.  The initiative also 
offers the GOV an opportunity to advance its trade and 
regional integration agendas as well as gain positive press 
and hoped for support in regional fora.  Energy Minister 
Ramirez has stated publicly that Petrocaribe is based on the 
Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), the Chavez 
administration's answer to the Free Trade Agreement for the 
Americas.  In addition, during his meeting with the GAO team 
(Reftel D), Ramirez painted Petrocaribe as the GOV's 
recognition of its "moral responsibility" to rescue Caribbean 
from bankruptcy due to high oil prices, which were 
exacerbated by intermediaries that added 8 USD per barrel. 
We fully expect the GOV to continue with this type of 
rhetoric and to blame IOCs for any distribution problems to 
Petrocaribe partners. 
Whitaker