The British Virgin Islands Electricity Corporation has signed a two-year agreement with Delta Petroleum ( Caribbean) Ltd. to provide diesel fuel to the Territory.

The agreement, which was signed on September 5, provides the BVIEC with 24 million gallons of diesel fuel estimated at $75 million, representing the largest of its kind.

The previous contract for $48 million, which was also awarded to Delta Petroleum ( Caribbean) Ltd., supplied approximately 23 gallons of diesel fuel.

Chairman of the BVIEC Board Margaret Penn explained that the increase in price was due to the cost and volume of fuel, and the cost of doing business.

Penn said the agreement is significant for the BVIEC, which can be recognised by the dollar value. “You will also understand its importance because the cost of fuel has been high for every citizen and business in this country so it is imperative that we negotiated the best possible price and contract terms for not only the Corporation but for the people of the country,” Penn said.

Acting General Manager of the BVIEC, Henry Creque added that the $75 million figure is the current approximate value of the agreement and that figure may increase or decrease based on the market value of fuel over the term of the agreement.

“The price of fuel over the past few years has increased dramatically, so therefore, you would appreciate our need to be extremely cautious in completing this agreement,” Creque said.

The BVIEC Board has been highly commended for their attention to detail during the negotiation process by Managing Director of Delta Petroleum (Caribbean) Ltd. Vernon Lake, who signed the agreement on behalf of Delta.

Creque told the Department of Information and Public Relations he acknowledges that the Corporation has recently been facing challenges with the reliability of the electricity supply throughout the Territory.

He added that the Corporation is working tirelessly to rectify the issues and further details will be communicated shortly.

However, at press time on Monday, those details were still forthcoming, but Creque had told the StandPoint that a draft press statement was being sanitised and will be issued shortly by GIS.

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