
Tonight, this ship - an oil tanker - called the Miramis is on its way to Belize with fuel from Venezuela's national oil company PDVSA.
The fuel is coming as part of the long dormant Petrocaribe agreement, which has recently been resurrected by the Barrow Administration.
The tanker arrives on Saturday afternoon - and signals the beginning of a new fuel regime in Belize.
But - the bad news is - don't expect it to bring lower prices at the pump. First, Venezuela has to sell all Petrocaribe partners fuel at world prices - so that it does not undermine its own international oil sales.
The break is that government gets favorable terms to pay back for the fuel products - meaning it doesn't have to pay back all 100% of the cost immediately. Between 40 and 50% of the fuel bill can be paid back over 20 years at low interest rates - so that in the interim government can use the money for development programmes.
And while that is still being worked out - the fuel regime has changed - while to some extent still remaining the same. Government is working with PUMA Energy to land, and store the fuel - so some elements of their price buildup will remain.
But, it is expected that there will be greater transparency - meaning government will control the imports itself - so there shouldn't be any bogus inflation of the landed cost of fuel.
Another aspect of the new regime is that the pump price of gas will not change on the day the ship arrives in port. As we understand it, government has agreed to allow PUMA to deplete its current inventory at the current prices - and then about 10 days after the ship arrives - new pump prices will be announced.
As we understand it, some of the kinks are still being worked out, and observers say that working with PUMA within the Petrocaribe agreement poses significant challenges - which will be worked out as the working arrangement progresses.
We'll keep following it closely...
Channel 7