PM Young: Dragon safe for now

DESPITE the US taking a hard political stance against Venezuela, levying hefty tariffs against countries and companies that trade in Venezuelan oil and gas, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in conversations on March 26 with Prime Minister Stuart Young, said its foreign policies against Venezuela are in no way meant to harm Trinidad and Tobago and its energy sector.

This bodes well for the contentious Dragon Gas deal, which Young has said will continue.

Rubio’s sentiments were shared with the media by Young at the post-Cabinet meeting at Whitehall in Port of Spain on March 27.

“He (Rubio) explained the policy that they are applying. I understood the US’ policy and we agreed that there is a lot of room for TT to achieve what is needed domestically in the Dragon Gas deal as well as the role that we play throughout the region that they will give us support on and the achievement of the policy.

“I made it very clear that Venezuela is our closest neighbour. We have a relationship with Venezuela that could be a beneficial relationship, again for the region and the hemisphere.”

Young said he was able to speak to Rubio in detail on the Dragon Gas deal, the relationship between TT and Venezuela and the importance of the relationship between the two countries to TT, the region and the hemisphere.

“TT is going to be proceeding. There is no 100 per cent surety that things may not change along the way. The commitment that there is not to be any harm to TT and us having the opportunity through me as the prime minister to explain first-hand to decision makers how it affects us and the region and the role we play in energy security, redounded to our benefit yesterday.”

Young said he also spoke about TT’s domestic exploration and production. He said, thanks to the relationship with the US government that was developed over the years, Rubio’s team was able to understand TT’s plans for domestic exploration and production.

“These are conversations that I have been having with the decision-makers in Washington for the past few years.”

He also noted that the Manatee project, which is expected to reach peak production of about 604 million standard cubic feet (scf) of natural gas a day, is continuing apace and it is still slated to start production in 2027.

He said he spoke to Rubio on the US’ proposal to impose fees on Chinese-flagged vessels, which analysts have said could increase freight to the Caribbean by up to 50 per cent.

Dismissing claims that TT would be in hot waters because of the government’s frequent visits to Venezuela, Young said Rubio was pleased with TT’s relationship with Venezuela.

While he did not want to speculate on the future of the OFAC licence, which gives TT permission from the US to explore and produce in the Dragon Gas field, Young was confident the conversation he had with Rubio on Wednesday was invaluable. Rubio said he will continue to work with TT on the licence.

“It's not what I think or don’t think. What I can tell you is, as you would recall a few weeks ago Chevron’s licence was not continued and they were given a wind-up period. What has happened since then? They extended it.

“After the whole world was collapsing and those naysayers wanted to sell a story… Chevron was granted an extension.

“Things are fluid. There are conversations taking place. This is not something that only affects us but we were able to put in our own advocacy."

He added that the credibility that TT has built in Washington over the past few years also played a part in the cordial conversation with Rubio.