Since the January announcement that the United States had granted T&T a licence to pursue the Dragon Field gas deal with Venezuela, several factors have given rise to doubts about whether an agreement will be realised.
Above all is the US government’s decision to prohibit cash payments for the gas, a decision Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has called “colonialism.”
If there were to be any evidence that the US was minded to change its position, it wouldn’t be coming from the US State Department, whose Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, Jose Fernandez, reinforced to Reuters news agency yesterday, that sanctions against Venezuela are not going to be eased any further.
Reuters, which spoke to Fernandez at a CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, quoted him as saying the recent State Department licences—the one given to T&T and one earlier allowing Chevron Corp to expand operations and export Venezuelan oil to the US—do not indicate a turn in policy towards Venezuela.
This appears to nullify hopes of T&T returning to the Biden administration to change the terms of the licence agreement if the Government had any intentions of doing so.
Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne’s meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Washinton DC yesterday, broadly discussed general interests between the US, T&T and Caricom.
In setting the stage for the talks, however, Minister Browne, in his opening remarks, said energy security was among the top priorities of the region.
We expect Minister Browne to report to the nation on whether the discussions went any further into the Dragon Field agreement and if any progress was made.
That meeting aside, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young has already indicated he will meet with US officials in Houston this month to discuss the licence agreement.
But given Under Secretary Fernandez’s position yesterday, the success of this deal seems more hinged on T&T’s ability to convince the Venezuelan regime to settle the deal on non-monetary terms.
Whatever Minister Young discussed on his two previous trips to Venezuela, he has kept close to his chest.
This is why we look toward the official start of formal Dragon Field talks within the next couple weeks, when Minister Young leads a technical team to Caracas.
We’ve taken note of his statement at the last post-Cabinet news conference, that among the initial documents to be signed with Venezuela are confidential agreements to protect information shared by the parties.
However, the country cannot be asked to hold its breath for much longer and Minister Young must ensure citizens are kept up-to-date on matters not covered under the confidential agreement.
We are all invested in this, with the knowledge that a resultant production of around 150 million cubic feet of gas daily can significantly turn T&T’s fortunes around.
The success of the talks with US officials that led to the licence approval deservedly earned this Government a proper round of applause, but it is the ability to favourably navigate through these upcoming talks with Venezuela that will earn the Dr Keith Rowley-regime a resounding standing ovation.