Trinidad gets licences from United States for oil and gas activities in Venezuela

The Trinidad and Tobago government Friday said that it has been issued with two United States General Licences, which provides “a clear and structured legal framework” under US law for certain oil and gas activities in Venezuela and along “our shared maritime border”.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar in a statement posted on X, said that “as a longstanding close partner of the United States, Trinidad and Tobago views this development as an important opportunity to deepen hemispheric energy cooperation, strengthen regional stability, and reinforce trusted commercial ties.

“We are optimistic about the potential to enhance our role as a responsible energy hub in the Caribbean, supporting domestic industry, safeguarding jobs, and contributing to reliable supply chains that benefit the wider region,” she wrote.

Persad-Bissessar said that Trinidad and Tobago will proceed in full compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements “and in keeping with our commitment to transparency and sound governance”.

According to the licence “any payment of oil or gas taxes or royalities to the government of Venezuela, PdVSA or any PdVSA entity must be paid to the Foreign Government Deposit Funds o any other account as instricted by the US Department of Treasury”.

It states further that the general licence does not authorise “payment terms that are not commercially reasonable, involve debt swaps or payments in gold, or are dominated in digital currency, digital coin or  digital tokens issued by, for, or on behalf of the Government of  Venezuela”.

Following the United States military incursion into Venezuela last month and the detention of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife on drugs and illegal  weapons charges, Washington announced that it would be running the South American country for the foreseeable future.

Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar had publicly supported the United States military presence in the Caribbean after Washington had initially said it was intended to put an end to the illegal drugs trade.

In April 2025, the United States revoked the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) licenses that had permitted Trinidad and Tobago to develop the Dragon and Manakin-Cocuina natural gas fields in partnership with Venezuela.

The licences had allowed multinational energy giants Shell and BP, along with Trinidad’s state-owned National Gas Company (NGC), to develop offshore gas fields near the Venezuelan maritime border. The Dragon field alone holds an estimated four trillion cubic feet of gas, with first exports initially slated for 2026.

Trinidad and Tobago  had already begun paying over one million US dollars per year in taxes to Venezuela for the expected 20-year Dragon project. But the move by Washington, citing concerns over Venezuela’s failure to restore democratic norms and manage illegal migration, had effectively frozen the deal.

However, by October 2025, a new, revised six-month OFAC license was granted to Trinidad and Tobago, valid until April 2026, allowing for renewed negotiations on the Dragon gas project under new,  strict, tiered conditions. (CMC)

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