A number of agreements were signed with Mexico today to build bridges and enhance cooperation in a number of areas. But for Joe Public, the biggest short-term news may be that PEMEX, Mexico's national oil company, plans to set up an operation in Belize. What is the size or scale of that operation we don't know but the Prime Minister says he hopes it drives down fuel prices.
Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize
"As you know the oil price situation is a very difficult one for our country, it's not only for Belize but indeed I suspect for most of the countries of Central America and the Caribbean. As you also know, Belize has been dependent on one supply of petroleum through one company for many years, and we believe with PEMEX coming in, this competitive spirit will help us coping with the very serious problems that we are having with the high acquisition cost of fuel. When this government came into office, in the first term in 1998, the price of a barrel of petroleum was something like $14. Today it has reached $60 a barrel and some are predicting it might even go to $70. So it's a very serious situation and we've held discussions with President Fox, not only on this occasion but on previous occasions, working with Mexico to see how PEMEX can come in to facilitate Belize with a reliable supply of refined products, with gas stations and so on. And I do know that they are working on this starting with Belize and I suspect going on to Central America as well."
As an oil rich country, PEMEX is able to produce some of the lowest cost fuel in the region. Of course, a fuel operation is not just a string of gas stations because ultimately, PEMEX cannot supply Belize with gas tankers trucked in from Mexico, it would foreseeably have to build a depot, if it is serious and experts say that alone would be close to a 40 million dollar investment. The Prime Minister today said that the issue of possible investors and their investment is not final at this point.
