Venezuela oil fields are the source of PetroCaribe oil.

Dr Anthony was responding to concerns among local petroleum dealers that the benefits of PetroCaribe are too slow to trickle down.

The concerns were raised as the government of St Lucia has said that it may have no other choice than to raise the price of fuel again.

“There is now a proposal on the table to allow for the invitation of petrol from Venezuela to be stored in Antigua to be distributed to the rest of the Caribbean.” Prime Minster Dr Kenny Anthony said in response to these concerns.

Delicate Matter

“There is the rather delicate matter that if you ship petrol from Venezuela to the north (of Antigua) whether or not it will cost us more because it will in effect by-pass St Lucia,” Dr Anthony continued.

The issue is also of concern for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

Under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonzalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines, OECS leaders met to advance the PetroCaribe process.

Prime Minister Anthony has stated that St Lucia, which is still to sign the PetroCaribe deal, may be in a unique position to help others to benefit from the arrangement thanks in part to its transhipment terminal.

Extradition Tax

Meantime foreign oil companies operating in Venezuela will have to pay a new extraction tax of 33 percent.

The President Hugo Chavez said those companies are already earning a lot of money. The new tax will bring the country nearly 900 million dollars a year in extra income.

Among the companies hit by this new tax are Chevron and Exxon and Total. Venezuela is the fifth biggest exporter of oil in the world and has some of the largest reserves.