If Bonaire & Curacao's economies take a big hit, it'll affect the rest. Increasing poverty could drive crime. From
Wikipedia's Curacao entry as of today:
"Curaçao has an
open economy, with tourism, international trade, shipping services, oil refining,
[42] storage (oil and bunkering) and international financial services being the most important sectors. The Venezuelan oil company
PDVSA has a lease on the island's oil refinery expiring in 2019; the facility employs 1000 people, refining oil from Venezuela for export to the US and Asia.
[43] Schlumberger, the world's largest oil field services company is incorporated in Curaçao."
Curacao's noted to have had a population > 160,000 (Jan. 2017 estimate).
Bonaire's Wikipedia entry notes:
"The Bonaire Petroleum Corporation (BOPEC) is a fuel oil storage and transhipment terminal on Bonaire. BOPEC is wholly owned by Venezuelan oil company PDVSA, and functions primarily as a storage facility for multiple grades of refined and non-refined oils from Venezuela and refineries on Curaçao and Aruba. BOPEC also has mixing and blending capabilities for its stored fuels."
From Jan. 2015, pop. 18,905. It's noted the economy is mainly tourism-based.
So how much impact might it have?
I recall St. Croix (2010 pop. 50,601) used to have a large oil refinery that closed down, and that had a substantial impact.
From Wikipedia:
"St. Croix was home to
HOVENSA, one of the world's largest
oil refineries. HOVENSA is a
limited liability company owned and operated by Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corp. (HOVIC), a division of U.S.-based
Hess Corporation, and Petroleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA), the national oil company of
Venezuela. Gas prices on the island were slightly higher than average when compared to gas prices in the continental United States.
On January 18, 2012, the company announced that the HOVENSA refinery would be permanently shut down. This was expected to have a major adverse effect on the economy of St. Croix and the entire U.S. Virgin Islands, as the refinery employed 1,200 residents and 950 contractors.
[15]"
My point is, shutting down a refinery employing 1,200 out of 50,601 people was expected to have a major adverse effect on St. Croix, and beyond it on the entire U.S. Virgin Islands. If Bonaire has a smaller, less diverse economy than Curacao, and many residents are already 'income stressed' (an impression I've gotten in the past; not stating it for fact), this could be big.
Richard.
