Page 7 - NorthAmOil Week 04 2023

NorthAmOil COMMENTARY NorthAmOil

two-year term of the waiver, he explained. “The vice president conveyed to the prime
Port of Spain had asked for a 10-year exemp- minister that the Treasury Department would
tion from sanctions but won a two-year licence take action to help meet the region’s long-term
from OFAC, he added. energy needs,” the statement said. In practical
terms, this will take the form of including pro-
Regional involvement visions in the waiver that require Trinidad and
The prime minister made clear that his gov- Tobago to direct a portion of future gas produc-
ernment had not been discussing the deal in tion from the Dragon field to Jamaica and the
isolation. Dominican Republic, it noted.
Other countries in the region have thrown It was not immediately clear how much of
their support behind the Dragon project, he this production stream might be reserved for
noted. These include Jamaica and the Domin- Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. Drag-
ican Republic, which will benefit directly from on’s output may eventually peak at 3.5bn cubic
the agreement, he said, noting particularly feet (99.11mn cubic metres) per day. The field
that the Dominican Republic’s President Luis is expected to help serve as a supplementary
Rodolfo Abinader had helped promote discus- source of feedstock for Atlantic LNG, a gas liq-
sions on regional energy security. uefaction plant in Trinidad and Tobago that is
He also expressed gratitude to Antigua and currently processing 3 bcf (84.96 mcm) per day,
Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne, The equivalent to about 71.43% of its design capacity
Bahamas’ Prime Minister Phillip Davis, Bar- of 4.2 bcf (118.9 mcm) per day.
bados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Guyana’s Rowley indicated that Port of Spain and Cara-
President Irfaan Ali and Suriname’s President cas had already drawn up some operational
Chan Santokhi. All of these leaders “have been plans for work at the gas field. The two sides US companies
in Trinidad and Tobago’s corner, pushing us to have agreed to “take reasonable steps to facili-
this point of encouraging the United States to do tate the development of construction, operation are already
this,” he remarked. and maintenance of one or more pipelines from involved in LNG
Additionally, Rowley thanked US Vice Pres- the Mariscal Sucre area ... including a pipeline
ident Kamala Harris for her role in the negoti- from the Dragon field to Trinidad’s Hibiscus deliveries to both
ations on the waiver, saying that she had been platform,” he stated.
a “careful and committed listener” during an Hibiscus is an offshore gas field being devel- Jamaica and
extensive series of talks between representatives oped by Shell (UK), which will also be a partner
of the US government and various Caribbean in the Dragon project. Shell had expected to the Dominican
countries. These discussions will help bolster lead the development of Dragon in 2018, and Republic.
energy security in the region and reduce reli- Rowley indicated that the multinational was still
ance on fuel imported from Russia and other slated to serve as operator. Even though OFAC
outside suppliers, he said. has granted the waiver to NGC and PdVSA is
technically the owner of the Dragon field, Shell
Gas for Jamaica, DR will operate the project, he said.
The prime minister did not divulge full details of It is not immediately clear how the US expects
Harris’ participation in the process, but the US to benefit from this new development. US com-
vice president’s office issued a statement indicat- panies are already involved in LNG deliveries
ing that Trinidad and Tobago’s deal with PdVSA to both Jamaica and the Dominican Republic,
was designed to boost gas supplies in the Carib- as New Fortress Energy (NFE) is active in the
bean region. former country and AES is active in the latter.™

Week 04 26•January•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P7