The US Government has granted authorization to energy major Shell and Trinidad and Tobago to develop an offshore gas field in Venezuela near the maritime border, Trinidad’s attorney general said on Thursday.
The project, aimed at supplying Trinidad with Venezuelan gas, has advanced slowly in recent years amid shifting US policy toward Venezuela, which has remained under US energy sanctions since 2019.
Because Venezuela and its state oil company PDVSA are subject to US sanctions, foreign companies must obtain authorizations or licenses to negotiate and develop energy projects there.
The Trump administration in April terminated previous licenses granted under President Joe Biden’s government to the Dragon project — developed by Shell and Trinidad’s National Gas Company — and to a similar venture by BP. Both projects are seen as essential to securing gas for Trinidad’s liquefied natural gas plants and other industries.
The new authorization, granted on Wednesday, is structured in three stages. The first stage allows Trinidad and Shell to negotiate the project with Venezuela and PDVSA through April 2026, but requires the inclusion of US companies in the development.
“You have to hit commercial targets for US companies. We don’t think those targets are hard to meet. They are reasonable,” Attorney General John Jeremie told reporters at a press conference.
(Reporting by Curtis Williams; Writing by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
