Latest update September 28th, 2026 10:20 AM
PetroCaribe arrangement…Guyana owes Venezuela over $24B
Despite the fact that there was only $1.9B in the PetroCaribe fund to show for all the money the PPP/C government collected over the years, Guyana still has a whopping $24B outstanding for Venezuela.
The management of the lucrative rice-for-oil deal with neighbouring Venezuela has been under fire by the new administration which said it found little in the bank accounts when it took office in May.
The fund was established almost a decade ago when Venezuela introduced an oil sale arrangement where Guyana and a number of CARICOM and Latin America countries take oil at concessionary rates, pay a percentage in advance and the balance over a 20-year period. The PetroCaribe Fund was supposed to hold millions of US dollars.
Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, noted in his recent report that last year, there were cancellations in relation to the 2013 and 2014 shipments totaling US$88.6M. This reduced the balance of money Guyana owes Venezuela to $24.9B as at December 31, 2015 compared to a balance of $37.990 billion as at December 31, 2014.
Sharma also noted that $1.9B was transferred from the PetroCaribe Bank Account to the Consolidated Fund in 2015 as well.
Sharma also highlighted the $5.7B that has to be taken from the Consolidated Fund by the Ministry of Finance to be given to the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) for rice shipment to Venezuela. This was because there was not enough money in the PetroCaribe fund to make the payment.
But because $1.9B was transferred from the PetroCaribe fund to the Consolidated Fund, this was deducted from the $5.7B, only $3.807 was actually charged.
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“I think the greatest threat to our National Security is our debt” – Admiral Mike Mullen (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff).
De plan was to pay wid … how dem put am … “an outlet to de atlantic”? Bang straight to stabroek block …. Da is wha yuh call patriotism! Oh! Nearly fegat … wid da outlet de parallel economy ting wud a guh straight out … direct … no use fuh jet and logs and shrimps … only time run out pun de Patriotic People Project.