PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago Friday remained optimistic that it will not be affected by a threat by the United States to reinstate sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, which is crucial to the economy of the South American country.
The threat by Washington came days after the highest court in Venezuela upheld a ban on opposition candidate María Corina Machado, who a primary to become the opposition’s unity candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
Last Friday, Venezuela’s Supreme Court confirmed a 15-year ban on Ms. Machado running for public office, and Venezuela rejected the US warning as “rude and improper blackmail.”
“When the United States government issued its general license number 44, that global license to all and sundry that did not limit or dampen the enthusiasm of the government of Trinidad and Tobago to proceed along the path that we had started earlier,” Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley told a news conference.
Rowley, who has just returned home from the United States where he held talks on energy, crime, and other matters with senior US officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris, told reporters that Port of Spain had always adopted a policy of speaking directly to those involved in making decisions.
“From day one, we did not put our argument or expectation under general license number 44, which expires on April 18. For those who rely on that general license to do business with Venezuela, that expiry is their problem. We never relied on that. Otherwise, we would have been in that situation,” he told reporters, adding that “from day one, we took a different path.”
Washington had imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector after President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a second term in 2019, following an election that the United States widely dismissed as neither free nor fair.
The US loosened those sanctions in October last year after the Maduro government reached a deal with the opposition, laying some groundwork for free and fair presidential elections in the second half of 2024.
Shortly after the deal was reached in Barbados, the US Treasury issued a license temporarily allowing transactions involving Venezuela’s oil and gas sector.
However, Washington warned that the license would only be renewed if Venezuela “met its commitments under the electoral roadmap,” which included lifting the bans imposed on Machado and several other opposition candidates.
Energy and Energy Industries Minister Stuart Young told a news conference last October that Washington had issued through the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to Port of Spain “an amendment to the license that we had requested in the terms that we have asked for.
“The license will now run for two years until October 31, 2025, which is more than enough time for us to get what needs to be done.
“It also allows Trinidad and Tobago, working along with NGC (National Gas Company) and Shell, to negotiate and complete negotiations and all agreements with the Venezuelan government and PDVSA for the development, production, and export of that gas from the Dragon gas field in Trinidad and Tobago for us to develop it, and for us to make payments in FIAT currency, as well as US dollars, as well as Bolivar, as well as via humanitarian measures, which is what was envisaged initially,” he added.
Rowley told reporters on Friday, “We are not, and we got that confirmation during our meeting in Washington that we are not directly affected by the April 18 activity.
“But of course, the US government can change its position at any time. Those of you who follow US politics would see by the hour what is happening in the United States about its own business; passing its budget is turmoil. That’s the word I would use.
“So changes can come. But we believe that some of these matters could survive, and we are surviving. When we got that OFAC license, we went to Caracas, and the license initially had a rider, which was unacceptable to Venezuela”.
Rowley said discussions were held with the Venezuelans and the United States, “and we eventually got to a situation where that rider was removed, a conditions that was acceptable for forward progress was had, and we got an amended license…which expires on October 31, 2025.
He said concerning the operation of the Dragon field, “We have in our hand an exploration and production license for 30 years on that field,’ adding, “Those are the facts and the outcome of the work of the government of Trinidad and Tobago in a very, very, difficult situation.”
Rowley, who had dismissed opposition suggestions that a pipeline from Venezuela to Trinidad would be near US$100 million, told reporters that no such figure had yet arrived.
Asked by reporters when Trinidad and Tobago should expect to record “first gas” from the Venezuela deal, Rowley replied, “Shell is the operator, and you wouldn’t see first gas until you hear we have assessed the field because the field has to be evaluated and that’s the very next thing that you will want.
“You will see it step by step. Upon assessment of the field, you will then notice a program of drilling that will be announced, and then you will see information about the pipeline (and). It is only in that context that first gas will become a reality.
“It’s not going to be tomorrow; it is not going to be next year. But what it does by …having the documentation in place that triggers the approval of the investment to be spent on the works. That’s how it goes in the industry.
“So right now, because of what we have achieved with the restructuring of LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) and the documentation regarding the Venezuelan field and Manatee, we have unlocked billions of dollars in investment in Trinidad and Tobago. But the actual molecule doesn’t appear for a few months…more like 36 months,” Prime Minister Rowley told reporters.
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