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LatAmOil                                      COMMENTARY                                            LatAmOil











































                                                                  NGC, PdVSA and Shell struck an initial deal for Dragon in 2018 (Image: PdVSA)
       T&T gearing up for





       more talks on Dragon







       Young is optimistic about the prospects for a quick deal that might see gas flowing

       in two years, but other observers say more time is needed to launch development



                         EARLIER this year, the US government took   Petroleum Ministry, as well as Pedro Rafael
                         another small step towards loosening sanctions   Tellechea, the head of the national oil company
       WHAT:             on Venezuela’s petroleum industry by granting   (NOC) PdVSA.
       Port of Spain is gearing   Trinidad and Tobago a two-year waiver for the   Since then, Young has confirmed that the
       up for a third round of   purpose of facilitating negotiations on a natural   visit began as scheduled on March 14. Very few
       talks with Caracas on the   gas project that has remained stalled for almost   details of the discussions have been made pub-
       Dragon gas project.  five years.                       lic – probably because the parties have signed a
                           Port of Spain held its first round of talks with   non-disclosure agreement.
       WHY:              Caracas on the scheme last month, and Stuart   It is worth noting, though, that Young spoke
       The US has green-lighted   Young, the head of Trinidad and Tobago’s Min-  enthusiastically to Reuters at CERAWeek about
       Shell’s participation in
       the Venezuelan scheme.  istry of Energy and Energy Industries (MEEI),   the prospect of reaching an agreement soon
                         said on the sidelines of the CERAWeek confer-  with PdVSA. He indicated that he believed the
       WHAT NEXT:        ence in Houston on March 9 that the parties   two countries had established a good founda-
       Venezuela is likely to   were holding substantive discussions.  tion for joint development of Dragon, a gas field
       push for more conces-  He told Reuters in an interview that he was   located offshore Venezuela near the maritime
       sions from the US.  preparing to make a third visit to Caracas before   border with Trinidad and Tobago, noting that
                         the end of March and would be meeting there   Port of Spain had “a relationship of respect” with
                         with Tareck El Aissami, the head of Venezuela’s   Caracas.



       P4                                      www. NEWSBASE .com                      Week 11   15•March•2023
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