Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro posted on X, formerly Twitter, that his government has closed the deal with Trinidad and Tobago to see the development of the Dragon Gas field that straddles both nations.
In a statement issued by the Venezuelan government, Maduro is quoted as saying, “We are going to produce gas together. Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela, in a sovereign way, is a powerful signal for the Caribbean (…) and sooner rather than later, convert all this gas, with the technology that you handle well, into wealth.”
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Venezuela’s Minister for Petroleum and President of PDVSA, Pedro Tellechea and Trinidad’s Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, Stuart Richard Young signed the deal.
The statement noted that the deal allows for installation of pipelines. The fiscal and payment-related details are unknown.
The United States had said any cash payments to the Venezuelan government or its state-owned entities would not be allowed, under a partial waiver of its sanctions regime to facilitate the project. The Venezuela side had protested this arrangement. Trinidad had advocated for an amendment to the sanction waiver.
The development carries significant potential to augment Trinidad’s gas production capabilities and elevate exports to neighbouring countries. The deal, which could see the countries exporting gas by 2025, involves transporting supply to Trinidad’s Atlantic LNG plant via a Shell-owned offshore platform. Young has estimated the field could start with an output of 175 million cubic feet per day and ramp up to 350 million cubic feet per day.
