Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
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Jamaican refinery expansion to start in 2007, says minister

Saturday, September 9, 2006

by: Thomas Black and Peter Wilson

Mexico (Bloomberg), MEXICO CITY: A $300 million project to expand Jamaica's sole refinery with Venezuelan help will start at the end of next year, Jamaica's Trade, Science and Technology Minister Phillip Paulwell said.

The expansion will last two years and take the refinery's capacity to 50,000 barrels a day from its current 35,000 barrels a day, Paulwell said Friday in an interview outside an energy conference in Mexico. A final agreement is expected to be reached with state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA by the end of next month.

As part of the accord, Petroleos de Venezuela will take a 49 percent shareholding in the Kingston refinery, paying $65 million, Paulwell said.

Petroleos de Venezuela said on August 14 that it was creating a joint venture with Jamaica's Petroleum Corp. as part of Venezuela's PetroCaribe initiative. The PetroCaribe initiative offers the 13 members, including Jamaica, Venezuelan petroleum products on preferential terms that eliminate third parties.

Member countries may pay for oil in goods, and under subsidized financing.

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