Bahamas not impacted by Venezuela oil threat from US, minister says

Minister of Energy and Transport JoBeth Coleby-Davis assured yesterday that The Bahamas will not be impacted by the Trump administration’s threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on countries that purchase Venezuelan oil.

“The position of the US administration does not impact The Bahamas,” Coleby-Davis said when asked about the matter.

“Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) purchases all oil and lubricants from Shell or their US trading company.

“Further, based on reports by the US Department of Energy, the countries that seem to be the target include, among others, China, the US, Spain, Cuba, Singapore, Malaysia, and Russia.

“The Ministry of Energy and Transport is continuing to monitor energy-related policy developments by the US administration to ensure that we protect our energy sector and Bahamians at large.”

The tariffs are the latest announced by US President Donald Trump, who has also since coming to office in January threatened tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

While his rationale for imposing tariffs on the US’s North American neighbors is rooted in claims that they will help to boost American manufacturing, he said his proposed tariffs for countries that purchase oil from Venezuela are in an effort to “sever the financial lifelines of Nicolás Maduro’s corrupt regime and curb its destabilizing influence across the Western Hemisphere”.

“President Trump is using America’s economic might to safeguard our interests and punish those who support Maduro’s regime,” a White House fact sheet said.

The fact sheet cited human rights abuses, undemocratic and corrupt governance, and claimed that the Maduro regime has “aided and facilitated the infiltration of the Tren de Aragua gang—a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization—into the United States by failing to secure its borders, allowing the gang to flourish within Venezuela, and refusing to take action against its members.”

As one of the largest purchasers of Venezuelan oil, China is among the countries likely to be impacted by the tariffs.

US oil firm Chevron, however, has also been a major purchaser of Venezuelan oil. The Trump administration has given Chevron until May 27 to wind down its Venezuelan operations.

Regionally, Trinidad and Tobago, is likely to be among the countries impacted by the tariffs, as it collaborates with Venezuela in its energy sector and has a 30-year license in place for the production of natural gas at Venezuela’s Dragon field and exportation to Trinidad and Tobago.

Addressing the tariff announcement yesterday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that other countries’ support of the Maduro regime through oil purchases will not be tolerated.

“The United States will not tolerate any third-countries or their oil companies producing, extracting, or exporting oil and oil-related products with the Maduro regime in Venezuela,” he said in a statement.

“This is a regime that has consistently stolen elections, pillaged from its people, and colluded with our enemies. Any country that allows its companies to produce, extract, or export from Venezuela will be subject to new tariffs, and any companies will be subject to sanctions.”