Got TIPS or BREAKING NEWS? Please call 1-284-442-8000 direct/can also WhatsApp same number or Email ALL news to:newsvino@outlook.com;                               ads call 1-284-440-6666

Sunoco LP ‘in essence, has a monopoly on fuel’ in the VI- Skelton-Cline

-reiterated the need for the Trade Commission
Sunoco LP is an American vehicle gasoline master limited partnership company organised under Delaware state law and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Photo: Sunoco
Social Commentator and host of Honestly Speaking, Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline, has reiterated the need for anti-trust and the Trade Commission, this time using fuel as an example. Photo: Facebook
Social Commentator and host of Honestly Speaking, Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline, has reiterated the need for anti-trust and the Trade Commission, this time using fuel as an example. Photo: Facebook
BAUGHERS BAY, Tortola, VI- Social Commentator and host of Honestly Speaking, Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline, has reiterated the need for anti-trust and the Trade Commission, this time using fuel as an example.

During his show on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, titled ‘Brace Yourself’, Skelton-Cline said Sunoco LP, a foreign-owned company, “in essence has a monopoly on fuel in the Virgin Islands”. 

Sunoco LP is an American vehicle gasoline master limited partnership company organised under Delaware state law and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. 

“If a Trade Commission [were] in place and anti-trust mechanisms were in place, this kind of stuff could not have happened. Not for us in the Virgin Islands.”

According to Skelton-Cline, the current situation in the Virgin Islands (VI) is that both Delta and SOL are now owned by Sunoco, though still allowed to operate under their names for now. 

“The fuel comes from the same source and is owned by the same entity, and the price is set by that entity and the supply is determined by that entity.”

He added that the few independent gas stations on the island source their fuel “90 per cent of the time” from Sunoco who also owns the company in Puerto Rico, where they source their fuel from. 

‘Somebody got to be paying attention’

Skelton-Cline explained that the reason why he makes a “big sheggedy” about the Trade Commission and constantly calls upon elected officials is because “somebody got be be paying attention”. 

This matter, he added, also affects the BVI Electricity Corporation. 

“The BVIEC has no real supply, no real source, and we are not dependent on one singular entity controlling fuel in the entire Virgin Islands.” 

This is another reason why anti-trust is needed, he continued, saying, “We don’t have to stop their sale, but we’re going to determine how that is going to work in the Virgin Islands.”

Skelton-Cline said it sickens him that “we keep electing blind people to tell us how to see”. 

He added that when these matters are spoken about, it has to do with dealing with policy decisions that impact the lives of the people of the Virgin Islands and not personalities. 

“This is not about you personally.”

10 Responses to “Sunoco LP ‘in essence, has a monopoly on fuel’ in the VI- Skelton-Cline ”

  • Cheaper (15/07/2026, 08:44) Like (4) Dislike (2) Reply
    Fuel will probably be cheaper now owing to scaling
  • gg (15/07/2026, 09:22) Like (5) Dislike (1) Reply
    So many young men are losing their lives i never heard that man as a pastor talk about it but as flie pitch he started talking sh** fier for u brother man
  • snow white (15/07/2026, 09:34) Like (11) Dislike (0) Reply
    i guess thats why his gas pumps been offline for awhile.

    money hurting and no more free tax cheques from greedy ignorant politicians
  • A Capitalist Who Loves the BVI (15/07/2026, 09:39) Like (4) Dislike (0) Reply
    This is a solution in search of a problem. What would the good reverend do in the alternative? Does he have any clue about the notion of "scale" and how any other player(s) could enter the BVI market for retail petroleum? What company is going to do that, given the massive infrastructure costs attendant to opening just one retail facility (not to mention shipping the fuel to the BVI) - and can you imagine this government, largely populated by people who could not even run a lemonade stand, doing anything to enable a positive business environment, and being hepful in the incredibly complicated permitting process? And just how many players can this market support such that all of them could make a profit? I wish that there were more competition, but you can't just wish for that, given the constraints imposed by a small market and the accompanying infrastructure costs.
    • please Help.. (15/07/2026, 12:56) Like (3) Dislike (0) Reply
      Unnecessary bureaucracy, endless paper forms that are obsolete and serve no meaningful safety purpose, and a culture focused more on explaining what cannot be done than finding practical solutions all contribute to institutional inefficiency.When this is combined with poor attitudes, a sense of entitlement, and an inability to accept reasonable criticism, even simple procedures become unnecessarily difficult. The result is longer processing times, frustrated members of the public, reduced productivity, and systems that are far less effective than they should be.
  • asking for a friend (15/07/2026, 09:54) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    What is new here?
  • smh (15/07/2026, 10:28) Like (5) Dislike (0) Reply
    When you were an advisor to the blind elected people, the outcomes were the same because you were only interested in enriching yourself, so just hush your two sided mouth.........As a so called man of GOD, you should already know that prophecy will be fulfilled.
  • Blind politician (15/07/2026, 12:52) Like (4) Dislike (0) Reply
    At this point your food 100x higher than gas price.
  • The blind (15/07/2026, 13:51) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    Claudia that was nicely put - the blind politicians teaching us how to SEE ~ ???? DAH WAS
    FUNNY •
  • Expensive (15/07/2026, 15:31) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    So bevis is no longer with delta?


Create a comment


Submit comment

Create a comment

Submit comment
Disclaimer: Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) welcomes your thoughts, feedback, views, bloggs and opinions. However, by posting a blogg you are agreeing to post comments or bloggs that are relevant to the topic, and that are not defamatory, liable, obscene, racist, abusive, sexist, anti-Semitic, threatening, hateful or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be excluded permanently from making contributions. Please view our declaimer above this article. We thank you in advance for complying with VINO's policy.

Follow Us On

Disclaimer: All comments posted on Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) are the sole views and opinions of the commentators and or bloggers and do not in anyway represent the views and opinions of the Board of Directors, Management and Staff of Virgin Islands News Online and its parent company.