T&T outlines terms of OFAC agreement with US but yet to initiate talks with Venezuela on gas deal
2025, 10/10
Attorney General John Jeremie told media that the US awarded an OFAC licence to T&T for the development of the Dragon gas field after an application was made by Government and the NGC on May 19. T&T has been granted a six-month window under a newly issued Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) licence from the United States Treasury Department, to allow Government and the National Gas Company (NGC) to formally engage in negotiations with Venezuela on the development of the Dragon gas project.
Describing it as the result of strategic diplomacy led by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her administration, he read what the licence entails.
It was “issued under certain executive orders and it authorises US persons, including employees, affiliates, contractors and service providers employed by or acting on behalf of or for the direct or indirect benefit of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd, Shell, PLC, Futura Clara Limited, and their subsidiaries and their affiliates and contractors to engage in transactions ordinarily incident and necessary to negotiations with the government of Venezuela and Petroleos de Venezuela executives in connection with the Dragon gas project.”
Stating what the granting of the licence meant for T&T, the AG said, “First of all, it allows us to enter into negotiations with Venezuela, which at the present time would be prohibited under sanctions. We have six months to negotiate. Within parameters.”
The six-month period is valid until April 2026. He declined to share details about the commercial terms, as Government has begun to take the permitted steps pursuant to the licence to advance the project.
“We have a window of opportunity and the Government is moving assiduously to exploit that.”
Declaring that Dragon is “alive” the AG assured, “You have to hit commercial targets for US companies. We don’t think those targets are hard to meet. They are reasonable .. It’s a commercial win-win for all of the parties. The United States benefits from this arrangement. There are terms and conditions in the licence which ensure that US companies benefit and there are tiers as to exactly how they should benefit. Trinidad obviously stands to benefit and to a certain extent, the people of Venezuela will benefit.”
Pressed on those commercial targets , Jeremie maintained he could only state that these “benefit US entities within the arrangement that we now have,” adding he could not say more, including what the dollar figures would look like.
Jeremie acknowledged Shell, a key stakeholder in the project, was s an “invaluable partner” , though he refrained from elaborating on its role in the licence being granted.
The AG declined to state whether Government has been in contact with the Venezuelan government to start those negotiations.
On transparency and public, in light of past criticisms that negotiations under the previous administration lacked openness, Jeremie responded with more details.
“Three days ago, there was no licence. Today, there is,” he said, declaring the Dragon gas project is “alive.”
The licence followed talks between the Prime Minister and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on September 30. On whether these statements may be pre-emptive, given the tension between Venezuela and the US, and presence of US warships in the Caribbean Sea, Jeremie insisted he had reason for saying the deal is alive.
“I might not have said that we have begun negotiations with Venezuela… What I mean by that is that we might not have sat around a table. No one has gone to Caracas…But that does not mean to say that there has been radio silence between Trinidad and Venezuela.”
On compensation to Venezuela, Jeremie said the licence does speak to that matter “obliquely,” adding this is something to be borne in mind in the course of the negotiations.
On December 21, 2023, the Venezuelan government issued a 30-year licence to the NGC and Shell to develop and export natural gas from the Dragon gas field to T&T. The OFAC played a key role in granting this licence under the then Joe Biden administration.
Chambers optimistic
The American Chamber of Commerce of T&T (AMCHAM T&T) said it believed the Dragon gas project would enhance the medium-term economic outlook and strengthen T&T position as a leading and reliable hemispheric partner in energy development. This was another positive affirmation of this country’s symbiotic relationship with the US, as the licence paved the way for legally compliant cross-border collaboration on the Dragon gas project.
“This licence is more than a regulatory milestone; it is a vote of confidence in T&T and our energy future.”
The Energy Chamber also extended congratulations to the Government on the OFAC licence, saying it allows T&T, along with state entities and private companies, to engage with Venezuela without being affected by sanctions.
This meant the involved entities may resume work on commercial and technical terms over the next six months.
Venezuela Gas Projects With Trinidad Win Rubio’s Backing
Bloomberg News, October 1, 2025 at 1:08 AM GMT+1
Trinidad and Tobago won support from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to resume talks with the sanctioned government of Venezuela to develop gas projects.
Rubio told Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar that her country would need to ensure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime would not benefit from the relationship. The US plans to issue new licenses through the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to allow the development of gas projects between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela
Trinidad and Tobago won support from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to resume talks with the sanctioned government of Venezuela to develop gas projects.
After meeting Rubio, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said in a statement she obtained US support “for the development of this country’s hydrocarbon cross border resources”.
Rubio told Persad-Bissessar that her country would need to ensure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime would not benefit from the relationship, according to a State Department statement.
The two countries and Shell Plc had planned for years to develop a pipeline to export natural gas from Venezuela’s Dragon offshore gas field to Trinidad.
As originally envisioned, the West Indies nation would be able to use the gas for its petrochemical industry or process it as LNG for export to the international markets. Rubio’s statement specifically mentioned Trinidad’s “Dragon gas proposal,” while Persad-Bissessar’s didn’t.
The US accused Maduro’s government of involvement in the narcotics trade and positioned Navy ships in the Caribbean Sea, bombing three boats from Venezuela that it alleges were transporting drugs. Tensions made it all the more difficult for companies seeking to do business in Venezuela to get exemptions to US sanctions.
Trinidad, once a pioneer in liquefied natural gas, is in a desperate search to find partners to tap new reserves in the region as output from its aging fields dwindle. Persad-Bissessar, a former prime minister who returned to power in April, positioned herself as a staunch ally of the US, praising the boat bombings.
“I have no sympathy for traffickers – the US military should kill them all violently,” she said earlier this month.
Venezuelan and Shell officials had been pushing to ready gas exports to Trinidad by 2026 after receiving a waiver from the US in 2022 to allow work on the Dragon project.
But the US revoked that licence in April, two weeks ahead of Persad-Bissessar’s inauguration. She had said during the campaign that she opposed reopening talks with Venezuela for the Dragon pipeline.
Trinidad’s Energy Chamber and Shell, a partner in the project, worked to persuade her to back it. In addition to Shell, BP Plc and Chevron Corp. are among international companies tied to undeveloped offshore gas between Venezuela and Trinidad.
The Energy Chamber lauded Persad-Bissessar, saying that the US plans to issue new licenses through the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The licenses are expected to be similar to those issued to Chevron for oil drilling in Venezuela. The Chevron deal allows for Venezuela’s state energy company to be compensated in-kind with a share of the production, rather than with cash.