Trinidad urged to get involved in Petro Caribe

It is important that Trinidad and Tobago is involved in all aspects of the Petro Caribe matters.

This is the opinion of Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, which he said he made clear to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during the just concluded Petro Caribe Ministerial Council meeting in Cienfuegos, Cuba.{{more}}

Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Patrick Manning has repeatedly voiced his objection to Petro Caribe, and is on record warning his CARICOM colleagues about going in that direction.

Meanwhile, Petro Caribe member countries have embraced 11 new elements of the 2005 agreement, including the establishment of a work team that will “carry out a diagnosis of the region’s potential for savings and efficient use of energy.”

At the press conference on Wednesday, January 02, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves announced the new measures adopted in the Petro Caribe agreement at the 3rd meeting of the PetroCaribe Ministerial Council meeting, held on December 20th, 2007, in Cienfuegos, Cuba.

Among the other new initiatives, a refinery is to be established in Cienfuegos, Cuba, to serve as a processing and collecting centre.

There is also going to be the establishment of a Technical Group headed by Venezuela “to study, analyze and undertake the conceptual engineering of possible joint projects in the area of renewable sources of energy, specifically solar, geothermal, and wind energy.”

A gas work team is also to be created. This team will be responsible for studying different options for the supply of gas to member countries “on the basis of availability of the natural gas in the region and in consideration of the different means of transportation available.” (KJ)