OECS will buy oil in bulk

The recent increases in world prices have raised concerns that OECS economies could be further destabilised.

Eastern Caribbean heads of government agreed to set up a Task Force on Energy Policy to advise on effective energy conservation management, alternative energy sources and reform of the energy sector.

Vasanta Chase, head of environment at the OECS secretariat in St Lucia, told BBC Caribbean Service that one of the options to be considered by the task force is the joint purchase of raw crude oil from Venezuela for processing in Trinidad.

She said that under the proposal, the oil will be owned by the member states instead of companies like Shell and Texaco.

"For this to happen we have to have discussions first with Venezuela, then with the refineries in Trinidad and then of course with the petroleum companies that at present control the transportation, storage, distribution and marketing of petrol and petroleum products," she said.

She believes that the bulk purchasing of oil by the nine OECS members will be beneficial as they will be able to effectively deal with the impact of rising oil prices.

When asked whether this strategy had not been considered before, Chase said the facilities for transporting and storing petrol, then distributing and marketing the petrol were not available in the OECS.

"These are major infrastructural investments," she said. "The time has come for us to work collectively to see how we can begin to take some measure of control over this infrastructure without displacing the majors (oil companies) have played for a very long time."

In May when oil prices rose to a 20-year high of $42 a barrel, the Dominican government was forced to increase the price of gas at the pump.

However, in St. Lucia, the government has shielded consumers from increases in gas prices through a policy of subsidizing the increases and guaranteeing petroleum dealers certain minimum returns on their business.

The OECS consists of the nations of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.