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Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal. - Photo by Faith AyoungENERGY Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal says Trinidad and Tobago currently does not earn any energy revenue with Venezuela.
He made this comment during his contribution to debate on a private motion in the House of Representatives filed by Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles. In her motion, Beckles called on the House to condemn inflammatory statements made by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in relation to ongoing US-Venezuela tensions in the southern Caribbean.
She also expressed concern the actions of Persad-Bissessar and the government in this matter could impact TT's economy, trade and national security negatively.
Moonilal said, "Notwithstanding very strong trading relations and cultural relations with the people of Venezuela over the years. We have really had no commercial relations with Venezuela on energy matters."
He added TT may be trading other commodities with the South American nation.
Moonilal reminded MPs about Persad-Bissessar's visit to Washington, DC, to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on September 30.
After that meeting, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and the US State Department issued separate statements to announce that an agreement had been reached with respect to continuing TT-Venezuela cross border energy initiatives which began under the former PNM administration. The State Department specifically identified the Dragon gas project in its statement.
At a news conference at Piarco International Airport on October 1, Persad-Bissessar said, “From day one when we came into office, we began work on that OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) licence (for Dragon).” She added, “We had discussions further with Secretary Rubio on other fields – Loran-Manatee and Cocuina-Manakin.”
On May 6 at a swearing in ceremony for government ministers at President's House, St Ann's, Persad-Bissessar declared the Dragon gas deal dead. She said Persad-Bissessar indicated the UNC would seek gas from Grenada, Guyana and Suriname.
On December 21, 2023, the Venezuelan government issued a 30-year licence to the NGC (National Gas Company) and Shell to develop and export natural gas from the Dragon gas field to TT. The OFAC played a key role in granting this licence under the then Joe Biden administration.
Concerns were raised about whether the Dragon project could be in jeopardy after Donald Trump won the presidential election on November 4.
The US$1 billion Dragon gas deal was first signed between TT and Venezuela in August 2018. But it was left in limbo after the US imposed sanctions on Venezuela a year later. Donald Trump was president at that time.
Last July, the former PNM government secured a 20-year licence from Venezuela for bpTT to exploit the Cocuina field on the Venezuela side of the unified one trillion cubic feet Cocuina-Manakin field of which bpTT already has an operatorship of the Manakin part lying in TT waters.
At a news conference at Whitehall on April 8, then prime minister Stuart Young announced OFAC had revoked licences issued for the Dragon and Manakin-Cocuina fields in Venezuela. Those licences were granted under the former Joe Biden administration in 2023. Trump won the November 2024 US presidential election.
A statement from the OPM on April 18 said Young had a telephone conversation with Rubio.
It added, “They both agreed to continue working towards the successful pursuit of TT’s energy initiatives.”
Moonilal said, "We are now conducting our business as it relates to the Dragon gas field. That continues uninterrupted."
He dismissed claims from the opposition that Persad-Bissessar's actions have jeopardised this work in any way.
Moonilal repeated that government has other energy initiatives in the pipeline but cannot say anything about them because of the confidential nature of ongoing discussions.
In her budget contribution in the House on October 17, Beckles asked government what did it promise the US in exchange for the OFAC licence it received earlier that month.
On November 27, Persad-Bissessar confirmed the presence of US Marines in Tobago.
"The plan there is the runway and a radar."
Persad-Bissessar said, "They will help us to improve our surveillance and intelligence we gather...the narco traffickers in our waters and outside our waters."
In August, the US approached Grenada for permission to use the Maurice Bishop International Airport to house military radar that could monitor both commercial and military flights in the southern Caribbean. The US began its military deployment in the southern Caribbean that month with three guided missile destroyers (USS Gravely, Jason Dunham and Sampson).
The US force in the region has since grown to include the nuclear attack submarine USS Newport News, amphibious assault vessels, special forces command vessels, the 22nd US Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford and its strike group. Members of the MEU were in TT last week for joint military exercises with members of the TT Defence Force (TTDF).
Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell has said his government is working with an undisclosed deadline from the US but will not be hurried into deciding on such an important issue. US troops invaded Grenada in October 1983 after then prime minister Maurice Bishop was executed in a coup. The MEU was one of the units involved in that invasion which was codenamed Operation Urgent Fury.
Persad-Bissessar has publicly supported the US military deployment in the southern Caribbean, outside of Venezuela's territorial waters. She has supported US military strikes against alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean while international concerns have been raised about the strikes being extra judicial killings. Persad-Bissessar has adhered firmly to the Trump administration's position that the deployment is anti-narcotics interdiction exercise.
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