Page 6 - GLNG Week 04 2023

GLNG COMMENTARY GLNG

US waives sanctions for

Dragon gas project

OFAC gives Trinidad and Tobago permission to work with PdVSA,

Shell at offshore gas field.

PNG VENEZUELAN government officials have Details emerging
had many opportunities to familiarise them- Some sources have reported that state-owned
WHAT: selves with the Office of Foreign Assets Control PdVSA will serve as operator of the pro-
Venezuela will be able to (OFAC), the division of the US Treasury Depart- ject, which targets a section of the maritime
move some of its offshore ment that oversees sanctions implementation, boundary line between Trinidad and Toba-
gas to market via Trinidad since Washington began restricting investment go and Venezuela. However, other observers
and Tobago. in the oil industry in early 2019. Within the have said that Shell (UK), which signed an
last year, though, OFAC has lifted some of the agreement with PdVSA and National Gas Co.
WHY: pressure. It gave a few European firms permis- of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd (NGC) on Drag-
Other countries in the sion to resume exports of Venezuelan crude oil on and several other nearby fields in 2018, be-
region support the in the second quarter of 2022, for instance, and fore the imposition of sanctions, would take
project. also authorised the US major Chevron to restart that role.
some of its upstream operations in the South In any event, Rowley reported that Wash-
WHAT NEXT: American country last November. ington had granted Port of Spain’s request for
The deal is contingent on And this week, Washington has taken yet permission to work with PdVSA. Trinidad and
fuel supplies to Jamaica another step to lessen the weight of the sanctions Tobago applied for the waiver in mid-2022 and
and the Dominican imposed on Caracas. On January 24, Keith Row- has been discussing the project with US offi-
Republic, where US ley, the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, cials, including President Joe Biden, ever since
companies already have said at an industry conference in Port of Spain then, while also keeping channels of communi-
a presence in the gas that OFAC had agreed to let his country move cation open with Venezuelan President Nicolas
market. forward with plans to develop Dragon, an off- Maduro, he said.
shore natural gas field, jointly with Venezuela’s Washington gave the deal the green light
national oil company (NOC) PdVSA. on the understanding that certain provisions
“The United States government has today of the sanctions regime would remain in force,
approved Trinidad and Tobago’s development Rowley noted. Trinidad and Tobago will only
of the Dragon field via an OFAC waiver from be able to proceed on the condition that no
sanctions, with specific terms to be finalised,” he cash payments are made to Maduro’s regime
declared. “What this means is that the restric- during the two-year term of the waiver, he
tions on the Dragon gas field development explained.
are now relieved, and all relevant parties can Port of Spain had asked for a 10-year
progress the plans to result in natural gas from exemption from sanctions but won a two-year
Venezuela.” licence from OFAC, he added.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 04 27•January•2023