Guardian ( Trinidad and Tobago )
28 July 2023 ( Page 15 )
Dragon deal not dead, but it cannot be main focus
By Peter Christopher
Energy analysts on PM’s
comments
Former energy minister Kevin Ramnarine is in
agreement with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s
assessment that the Dragon Gas deal is not dead,
despite Venezuela not accepting the financial
terms set by the United States concerning the
agreement.
The Prime Minister was asked about the status of
the Dragon Gas Field during his appearance on a
television morning show yesterday.
“The Venezuelans have not accepted the terms
laid down by the Americans. That is the long and
short of it,” said Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley
concerning the current status of the deal.
In January, the United States granted Trinidad
and Tobago a special licence to access the Dragon
Gas Field in Venezuelan waters.
The licence was granted for a two-year period
initially.
However the licence came with the condition that
Venezuela could not be paid in cash as part of the
deal.
“We fought very hard to get the Americans to
give us a carve out, which is to allow us to treat
with PDVSA without breaking the sanctions. We
eventually won that battle but they put a
condition on it which the Venezuelans, as of now,
have not accepted,” said the Prime Minister.
He said the T&T government has continued
discussions with both the US and Venezuelan
administrations to see if a mutually beneficial
arrangement can be negotiated.
“We are still talking on both sides; we are still
negotiating. It’s a disappointment for us here in
Trinidad and Tobago, that it is taking so long, or
that the decisions that are being made for other
people’s interests are being so detrimental to our
interests.
And the most that we can do is to stay the
diplomatic course. And we made a lot of friends,
we’ve opened the doors, and we keep advocating
for Trinidad and Tobago in those quarters,” said
the Prime Minister.
He was then asked if this meant the deal was
dead in the water.
He responded, “Well, I wouldn’t say it is dead.
We have progressed. We’ve got a term sheet with
Venezuela. We’ve got an escape from the
sanction, but it carried something with it. It is
still connected to the sanctions by a condition.
So, we’re working on that condition to see if we
can come to a place which the Venezuelans can
accept, which the Americans can accept.
And when that day comes, we’d be in a much
better place.”
Ramnarine said that as long as both T&T and
Venezuela remained invested in the deal, it
remains a potential option but at this time it can
not be the main focus.
“I agree with the Prime Minister that it is not
dead. Once the Venezuelans are interested in it,
and we are interested in it, it is not dead. If the
sanctions were not there, it would have been
accelerated. They would have been further along
the way. But now clearly, as a country, we cannot
bank on this, because nobody could see when this
gas would be ready to be produced to Trinidad and
Tobago. So we can’t plan our economy for the
next ten years based on Dragon Gas or gas
coming from Venezuela,” said Ramnarine, who
said instead focus should be placed on local
deepwater gas fields.
“I would say to the Prime Minister, or to anybody
who is in government, we have to make do with
what we have and what we have in terms of the
resource base of our country is deepwater gas. We
should be working with Woodside, which holds
3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas off Tobago.
We should be working with Woodside and make
that a commercial reality,” he said.
However he noted that returns from those fields
were not expected until 2027 and there were
already signs of a natural gas crisis as several
plants on the Point Lisas Industrial Estate have
curtailed or shut down operations due to limited
gas supply.
Energy economist Gregory McGuire said it was
time for the Prime Minister government to make
public to the world that the sanctions imposed by
the United States on Venezuela has had an
adverse effect on T&T’s energy sector and
economy.
Photo - Former energy minister Kevin Ramnarine