Venezuela Pushing Trinidad Out of Oil Market, Reuters Says
By Jose Orozco
Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's Petrocaribe initiative, which provides low-cost financing on Venezuelan oil sold to Caribbean nations, is pushing Trinidad out of the regional oil market, Reuters reported.
Venezuela's system has contributed to Caribbean sales at Petroleum Co. of Trinidad & Tobago Ltd., or Petrotrin, dropping by half from 60,000 barrels a day in 2005 when Petrocaribe was started, Reuters said.
Petrotrin has responded to its lost regional market share by sending products to other areas, including the U.S., Reuters cited Kenneth Allum, Petrotrin vice president for refining and marketing, as saying.
Venezuela sells about 190,000 barrels a day of oil and other products to the Caribbean and Central American members of PetroCaribe, Reuters said. Caribbean countries import about 450,000 barrels of oil a day, it said, citing U.S. Department of Energy data.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jose Orozco in Caracas at jorozco8@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: August 5, 2008 01:43 EDTSource: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aVGrBB_IUa9w&refer=news