Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (L) accompanied by first vice-president of the Council of State of Cuba Raul Castro (R) visits Santiago of Cuba, Dec. 23, 2007. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    HAVANA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The 4th summit of Petrocaribe, an initiative created by Venezuela to supply oil to Caribbean neighbors at preferential prices, has been used by President Hugo Chavez as another counterweight to U.S. influence in the region, analysts said on Saturday.

    At the summit in Cuba's southern coastal city of Cienfuegos, Chavez won considerable success in rallying around Caribbean neighbors and Central American nations and further consolidating the Petrocaribe pact, they said.

    At the one-day summit on Friday, Chavez proposed a barter scheme to allow Caribbean countries to pay their oil bills with products and services and urged construction of more oil refineries in the Caribbean countries to process Venezuelan oils that would otherwise be sold to the United States.

    He also suggested setting up foundations to help the Caribbean countries develop the solar, geothermal and wind energy and other alternative energy sources.

    Chavez initiated Petrocaribe, a regional energy organization comprising 17 Central American and Caribbean countries, at an energy meeting of the Caribbean nations in La Cruz, Venezuela, in June 2005, with the aim of supplying oil and oil products to Caribbean neighbors at preferential prices.

    Member nations of the group are allowed to defer payment of 40 percent of their oil bills to Venezuela for up to 25 years, at 1 percent interest.

    Venezuela, now the world's fifth largest oil exporter, is the only Latin American member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

    Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA said the South American country's proven oil reserves stand at 88 billion barrels. The nation's natural gas reserves are estimated at 4.19 trillion cubic meters, statistics released by the company showed.

    After prospecting work for oil deposits in Venezuela's Orinoco River basin is finished, Venezuela's total oil reserves could reach as much as 316 billion barrels.

    Oil has been used by Chavez as a weapon to counter U.S. influence in the region since he took office. Besides Petrocaribe, he called for the construction of a gas pipeline in South America.

    Chavez also proposed to build a submarine pipeline in the Caribbean Sea carrying Venezuela's natural gas to Cuba.

    A final declaration adopted at the end of the summit said participants praised "the generosity of Venezuela." They said Petrocaribe has become a well-established entity, which is in the process of being consolidated through the collective efforts of its members.

    Petrocaribe reflected common aspirations of the Caribbean nations for regional integration through cooperation, it said.

    It has gone beyond an energy cooperation mechanism as originally designed, and has become a strategic mechanism for guaranteeing energy security in the region, said the declaration.

    As oil prices have rocketed to as high as around 90 U.S. dollars a barrel, Chavez's offer has helped relieved some of the Caribbean nations' burden, which has in turn boosted up economic development in these countries, analysts said.