Commentator and clergyman Mr Claude O. Skelton-Cline believes the territory has oil and gold and it should 'recommence' exploration for them. Photo: oedigital.com

Claude O. Skelton-Cline during his show, Honestly Speaking, on Tuesday, February 3, 2026. Photo: Facebook

It was in 2023 that outspoken clergyman Bishop John I. Cline called for the VI to explore more renewable energy resources for cost mitigation; however, he did not discount that the territory could hold possible oil resources that warrant exploration. Photo: Facebook/File

According to Skelton-Cline, some work was already done in these two areas, going back some 25 years.

“Ask the government and the Minister of Natural Resources, in particular, all of them who have served in that capacity, and ask the government of the day and every government who wishes to come, why is it we are not exploring the wealth and the richness that’s beneath our oceans?”

VI treasures

Mr Skelton-Cline said the Virgin Islands’ treasure is within its two-hundred-mile radius. He said that of all the biodiversity that the United Kingdom has claimed, 95% of it is not in the UK. “It’s in their so-called, what they call their OTs, chief amongst which are these Virgin Islands.”

The commentator added that the reason the US Virgin Islands is “going crazy even for the little fishing and the fees we charging them” is because the future is in maritime, “on the marine side for us in our Virgin Islands, and what’s under and beneath that ocean floor.”

Mr Skelton-Cline said if he were in charge of the VI, that’s one or two of the big-ticket items he would be commissioning.

“There are some people who know some things we don’t know, but they won't tell us, and they won't explore it because they don't want you to have it,” Mr Skelton-Cline said.

‘Maybe there's oil off Anegada’- John I. Cline

It was in 2023 that outspoken clergyman Bishop John I. Cline called for the VI to explore more renewable energy resources for cost mitigation; however, he did not discount that the territory could hold possible oil resources that warrant exploration.

Speaking on March 2, 2023, via a video posted on the ‘My BVI’ Facebook page, Mr Cline added that with access to technology, the Virgin Islands should look more into renewable energies, since it does not have the capacity to generate its own oil to reduce energy costs.

“We don't have oil wealth, maybe there's oil off Anegada, and I don't think that's beyond exploration, maybe it's been tried before... We should go back and look, because I think there's something out there,” Bishop Cline said.