Development: On 8 July Costa Rica received an invitation from Venezuela to join Petrocaribe, the energy cooperation agreement which offers Venezuelan oil to Central American and Caribbean countries on preferential financing terms.

Significance:  Apart from El Salvador, the US-allied Costa Rica is the only remaining Central American country not to have signed up to Petrocaribe. However, with the local economy struggling to cope with soaring oil import costs, the government of President Oscar Arias may find the temptation of cheap oil too hard to resist, even at the risk of irking the US, its main trade and investment partner.

According to Costa Rica's environment and energy minister, Roberto Dobles, the invitation to join Petrocaribe came from his Venezuelan counterpart, Rafael Ramírez.

A high level Costa Rican delegation will have observer status at the upcoming summit of the heads of state and government of Petrocaribe this weekend in Maracaibo, Venezuela, with a view to exploring Costa Rica's potential adhesion to the group. The delegation will consist of external relations minister, Bruno Stagno, and executive president of Costa Rica's state oil company, Recope, José León Desanti. According to Dobles, the delegation will "take a thorough look" at the facilities offered by Petrocaribe.

The minister issued a statement noting that the rising cost of fuel had prompted the authorities to explore the Petrocaribe option. According to the government, Costa Rica's fuel import bill will double this year to reach US$2.8bn. In recent weeks the Arias government has taken various coping measures to reduce fuel usage, including restrictions on the use of cars locally.

Under Petrocaribe, launched in June 2005 with 15 Caribbean states, Venezuela's state oil firm Pdvsa sells oil to other state-controlled entities on soft financing terms, which typically stipulate that 50% be paid within 90 days and the rest over a 25 year period at an annual interest rate of  1% (with a two-year grace period). On 3 July Guatemala became the 17th country to sign up to the alliance.