ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Dr. the Hon. W. Baldwin Spencer on Thursday (May 27) announced to the House of Representatives that his government will acquire the remaining 75% West Indies Oil Company (WIOC) shares currently held by National Petroleum Ltd. (NPL). He noted that this acquisition which is an integral component of the Government’s Power to the People Initiative will herald the rebirth of the Antiguanization Programme.
During his presentation to the House, Prime Minister Spencer said that the acquisition will not increase Government’s debt stock. Rather PDV CAB, a private company for which the Government of Antigua and Barbuda is the sole shareholder, will borrow the funds for the acquisition and will hold the shares on behalf of the people of Antigua and Barbuda.
He pointed out that the loan in the amount of US$68 million has been secured from the Venezuelan firm PDVSA to purchase NPL’s shares in WIOC. The loan has a twenty year payback period and is associated with a two year moratorium with the interest rate fixed at 6%.
“While the creation of joint venture companies in all participating PetroCaribe countries was one of the original objectives of the PetroCaribe Agreement, I informed our negotiators that there will be no joint venture agreement until Antigua and Barbuda has clear controlling interests. It is in this context that I advise the nation today that the Government and People of Antigua and Barbuda will own 60% of the shares in the joint venture with the Venezuelans – an accomplishment which is unprecedented in any of the other countries participating in the PetroCaribe Initiative,” said Prime Minister Spencer.
