Trinidad team due on concessionary oil talks
Government is preparing to hold talks with a Trinidad team on importing oil on a concessionary basis, but it will not rule out the current Venezuela oil offer despite Guyana's reservations over it. "We are taking advantage of all the offers we can get, regardless..." Minister of Trade, Tourism and Industry Geoffrey Da Silva told Stabroek News last evening. Recently, Venezuela opened a concessionary oil arrangement with a number of countries both within and outside of CARICOM. Guyana had initially raised concerns over CARICOM countries accepting the offer since it was not made clear whether this country was also to benefit. Guyana's concerns were heightened by remarks by Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jose Vicente Rangel that oil has always been used as a political weapon and that Venezuela had a different type of dialogue with Guyana - a reference to the territorial controversy between the two countries. The Guyana Government had urged CARICOM countries to show solidarity with this country and not accept the offer. The CARICOM Bureau of heads subsequently accepted the offer and said it had been clarified that no regional member was being excluded. Guyana has since said that it is still not clear whether it will be able to benefit from the deal. In the wake of the Caracas oil offer, Trinidad had been urged by Antigua to come up with its own concessionary oil plan and this was discussed recently in the twin-island republic with a view to devising a plan. It was recently announced that this is now in the offing. Da Silva, said that the offer will only be forthcoming for countries based on "bilateral" discussions. Da Silva further disclosed that the Trinidad team will be coming in either this weekend or the beginning of next week. He said the matter will be discussed at Cabinet today. Asked if his Government will rule out the Venezuela offer, Da Silva said no, adding that it will try to take advantage of every possible offer it can get to access oil. "We are even talking to some other companies in other countries..." he said, but declined to state which were the companies.
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