HAITI'S FUEL SUPPLY UPDATE: DELIVERY ARRIVES

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 000057 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR TREASURY FOR ERIN NEPHEW E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ETRD ECON PGOV PREL HA SUBJECT: HAITI'S FUEL SUPPLY UPDATE: DELIVERY ARRIVES REF: A) PORT-AU-PRINCE 00029 B) PORT-AU-PRINCE 01023 ¶1. (SBU) A fuel tanker, operated by Chevron, carrying approximately ten million gallons (240,000 barrels) of unleaded octane 91 and 95, diesel and kerosene, arrived the early morning of January 13, after several days of fuel unavailability at the pump. Chevron Finance Manager Karlyle Raphael (protect) told Econoff January 12 that delivery to fuel stations should commence the morning of January 14. Raphael said that stations in the Port-au-Prince area would receive supply by January 16-17, adding that stations in the provinces would take about two additional days as delivery depends on other external factors (i.e. truck availability). Ministry of Finance and Economy Director of Fiscal Inspection Ronald Decembre announced that the new stock would be available for at least 22 days. ¶2. (U) Consumers, public transport drivers and associations continue to criticize the Government of Haiti (GoH) and distributors for their lack of responsiveness and action to the fuel unavailability crisis (ref A). Fuel unavailability has been an ongoing issue since the end of December 2008. Most stations in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince remain depleted of unleaded fuel and only offering diesel and kerosene, while other stations have closed down entirely to avoid the grumbles from and rumbles among consumers. ¶3. (U) Some stations in Port-au-Prince have received meager relief since the vessel arrival. Consumers complain that fuel supply, post delivery, is exhausted after two hours. Alleged sales of unleaded fuel on the black market persist. Chevron Financial Manager Raphael suspects that normal operations would resume the weekend of January ¶16. An exact cause for the shortage is unclear. However, distributors attribute the shortage/unavailability to the absence of a firm GoH contract with a fuel transporter (ref A). Station owners allege receiving less fuel than ordered and paid for to the GoH and oil company distributors since November 2008 (Post cannot confirm this statement at present). The GoH attributed the shortage to technical problems at Venezuela's refinery in Curacao. ¶4. (SBU) Reports mentioned that PDVSA's (Venezuelan state oil company) Isla Oil Refinery in Curacao was offline for one week due to a power outage. (Comment: Meanwhile, the Venezuelan government is also coping with reduced oil prices, which might compromise Venezuela's socio-economic agreements, such as the preferential purchase terms in PetroCaribe (ref B). End Comment) Consumers, on the other hand, believe that distributors possess the resource but do not want to sell it at cheaper prices and subsequently the GoH is not doing enough to quickly respond to their needs. Haiti is scheduled to receive an additional fuel shipment in late January (exact products are unknown). SANDERSON