PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar says she remains confident that an agreement could be reached with regards to the Dragon gas deal involving Venezuela and that she was prepared to lead the local delegation to Caracas for the discussions.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar speaking to reporters on her return from the United States on Wednesday night (CMC Photo)“The project benefits Venezuela, they benefit the United States and they benefit Trinidad and Tobago,” Prime Minister Persad Bissessar told reporters on her return here from the United States where she addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and held talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“I am confident we will be able to work it out…it may take a few more days…but I am confident that together all partners in this…Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States will all benefit…So we look forward,” she told reporters.
A statement issued following the talks with Rubio, on Tuesday said that Washington had “outlined US support for the government’s Dragon gas proposal and steps to ensure it will not provide significant benefit to the Maduro regime”
But former prime minister Stuart Young Wednesday described the new development as an “irony” recalling the announcement by Prime Minister Persad Bissessar, soon after being sworn into office that the Dragon gas deal was dead.
He said ‘she announced to the world at large that Dragon was dead with glee and that they would pursue gas in Grenada, Guyana, Suriname and …we find ourselves right back here today”.
Young said it is obvious that the government will mislead the public on the project going forward , saying the Dragon gas field is completely within the maritime borders of Venezuela.
“The Dragon gas field is completely owned by the people of Venezuela and it is the PNM (People’s National Movement) government that negotiated through very difficult and trying times and managed in December 2023 …to obtain a 30 years exploration, production and export of gas from the Dragon field to Trinidad and Tobago waters”.
In April, the United States government revoked the OFAC license granted to Trinidad and Tobago to allow Shell, the National Gas Company (NGC), and contractors to explore, produce, and export natural gas from the Venezuelan Dragon Gas Field.
The license was valid until October 31, 2025, and enabled Trinidad and Tobago to pay for gas in various currencies and through humanitarian measures. On December 21, 2023, Trinidad and Tobago also secured a 30-year exploration and production license from the government of Venezuela for the Dragon gas field.
Washington had also revoked the Cocuina-Manakin license granted to Port of Spain on May 31, 2024.
Port of Spain had been planning to request an extension from Washington for a license granted to Shell and the NGC to develop the Dragon gas project in Venezuela.
The license, issued in early 2023, allows the companies to plan the project. The project aims to supply gas to Trinidad by 2027. The Dragon Field is located in Venezuelan waters near the maritime border with Trinidad.
Young said following the revocation of the license, Rubio held talks with him and in a statement made it clear “he will work with us on our energy security and our energy deals and in the world of diplomacy and diplomatic language that is what we were talking about”.
Young said that the present government has been making pre-mature statements “that they have obtained something is completely false”.
In recent weeks, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela had been engaged in a war of words after Port of Spain voiced its support for Washington’s war on drugs that saw it sending military warships into the Caribbean Sea with the intent of preventing drug dealers from illegally carrying out their trade.
Persad Bissessar praised the US military strike on an alleged drug-carrying vessel in the southern Caribbean, saying she had “no sympathy for traffickers” and that the US military should “kill them all violently
Venezuela has since responded to what it termed the threat posed by the United States and has itself marshalled its troops along its borders.
Persad Bissessar told reporters that she is prepared to lead the negotiations in Venezuela indicating also that her administration had been working to breathe life into the Dragon gas project after it won the April 28 general election.
She said that Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Minister, Sean Sobers, and Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal could lead the delegation to Caracas and that she was also available.
“Of course, you have me,” she reminded reporters adding that Moonilal and Sobers had been in contact with their counterparts in the Venezuelan government with respect to Dragon gas project.
She remained confidence that Venezuela would negotiate with Trinidad and Tobago despite Port of Spain’s support for the US military deployment in the southern Caribbean Sea, outside of Venezuelan territorial waters.
“We have always maintained solidarity with the people of Venezuela,” she said, adding that there had been no discussions about regime change in Caracas.
“Our concern has always been …to deal with the criminals, narco traffickers …human traffickers, gun runners…that is my concern and that is what we want.
“We cant do things the same way every day…we can’t continue to look backwards and not go forward…we have done that for years and Trinidad has become number six in the world…most murderous country…
“I think this partnership with the US is not about regime change for us here in Trinidad and Tobago...it is about securing the safety and security,” she added.
