PM, Young celebrate as Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela sign Dragon gas field licence

THE licence for the Dragon gas deal has been secured.

On Thursday in Caracas, Energy Minister Stuart Young signed the final documents that gave the green light for natural gas from the Dragon maritime field in Venezuela to flow to Trinidad and Tobago.

The Prime Minister and Young respectively hailed the signing as a major milestone towards strengthening TT's energy security and bolstering the economy.

In a Facebook post, Dr Rowley declared, "We have secured the licence to the Dragon gas field!"

He added,"Yes, in the spirit of good neighbourliness, the dragon can dance."

Rowley congratulated the people of TT and Venezuela on this major accomplishment.

He said the securing of the licence is "a door to a new commercial frontier has been opened for the benefit of all our people."

In a separate post, Young said he was humbled and privileged to have played a key role in making this historic moment a reality.

He added that the granting of the licence by the Venezuelan government to the National Gas Company (NGC) and Shell, allows for the development and production of natural gas for export from Dragon to TT.

"This a huge win for the people of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago."

The US$1 billion deal was signed between TT and Venezuela in August 2018. Those involved included energy giant Shell, Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, and the NGC.

The Dragon deal will see TT developing the field, which is estimated to produce approximately 150 million standard cubic feet of gas a day. The gas will be imported through a billion-dollar pipeline to the Hibiscus platform off the northwest coast of TT. The platform is jointly owned by the Government, NGC and Shell.

The deal was left in limbo after the US imposed sanctions on Venezuela in 2019.

On January 24, Rowley announced that the US had lifted the sanctions to allow TT to extract gas from Venezuela. This waiver came after almost four years of lobbying led by Dr Rowley and supported by other Caricom leaders.

Rowley said the waiver came with stipulations, one being a two-year licence with an optimistic view of an extension and priority given to Caribbean countries, except Cuba.

In October, OFAC offered an extension of the licence it issued to TT to access natural gas from the Dragon gas field and the ability to pay for that gas in different ways.

Young announced the extension of the licence to October 31, 2025 at a news conference on October 17.

He said the extension also allows Government to pay for gas from the field in “fiat currency, as well as US dollars, as well as (Venezuelan bolivares), as well as via humanitarian measures.”