Venezuela sends Guyana

by Caribbean Net News

Venezuela, South America's largest oil producer, sent a 16,000-barrel cargo of gasoline to Guyana, one of the continent's poorest countries, to alleviate a state of emergency.

The MT Caribbean Pearl arrived on Tuesday in Guyana, where a gasoline shortage has shut fuel stations, Venezuela's foreign ministry said on Wednesday in an e-mailed statement.

Venezuela supplies fuel to Guyana as part of its PetroCaribe program, which allows import-dependent countries in the Caribbean to buy oil and refined products with low-cost financing. The two countries had a diplomatic crisis last week after Venezuelan troops blew up two gold-mining dredges; Guyana claimed the dredges were within its territory.

Venezuela provided 1.33 million barrels a day of oil and refined products to the US in September, according to the US Department of Energy, putting it behind suppliers Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Canada.