An industrial rig used to extract oil, off the Brazilian coast. Photo: Divulgação Petrobras/ABr.
The Inter-Institutional Agreement for the Promotion of Joint Projects in the Gaseous Hydrocarbons Sector was signed between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, representing a historic opportunity for energy cooperation between the two countries.
Energy cooperation between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, under the umbrella of the benefit-sharing agreement signed this Wednesday, September 20, opens the door to numerous economic improvements both in the Caribbean Basin and across other continents as well.
Agenda and projections
The prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Keith Rowley, reported in January of this year on the issuance of a US Treasury Department license to Trinidad and Tobago to develop the Venezuelan gas field. At that time, US Vice President Kamala Harris conveyed to Rowley that “the Treasury Department would take steps to help meet the long-term energy needs of the region.”
The political pressure generated by the Trinidadian government on the Biden administration took place within the framework of the US-Caribbean Energy Security Action Committee, chaired and co-chaired by Harris and Rowley, respectively.
In the following months, meetings between Venezuelan government authorities and the Caribbean nation were frequent. The minister of energy of Trinidad and Tobago, Stuart Young, visited Venezuela on multiple occasions, the last one being a few days prior to the recent agreement. It took so many months because of the illegal unilateral sanctions that continue to be imposed by the US. Thus, the issuance of such licenses falls short when it comes to executing the project in practice.
Rowley confirmed that, following the issuance of the license, progress has been slow in obtaining the necessary resources. As the license itself has not been made public, it is inferred that such an exemption carries with it some clause restricting Trinidad and Tobago from paying money to Venezuela, in keeping with US imperial policy.
Venezuela Signs Agreement with Trinidad and Tobago for Joint Gas Projects
In terms of the development of the eastern side of the Caribbean Gas Belt, specifically within the Mariscal Sucre Project (PMS), it should be noted that when it was registered in 2009, the DragĂłn Gas Field, at the time, had the potential to obtain a maximum rate of 70 million cubic feet of gas per day. Today, due to innovation and technological advances, it is estimated that it could produce 150 million cubic feet per day in the first year, with plans to increase to 300 million cubic feet per day later on.
However, the roadmap for cooperation between the two nations expands beyond just this particular sector, since President Nicolás Maduro has announced that the next step in the project was to finalize the agreement and start joint gas projects in the Loran-Manatee field.
Good neighborliness: the gas chapter
Although it was in 2008 that the DragĂłn Gas Field was first drilled with the Neptune Discoverer Drillship, it was in 2018 when the big leap for the development of that gas quarry was made, following the signing of the cross-border agreement for the import of methane gas. However, Western-imposed sanctions abruptly halted this important project.
“We had invested considerable time, effort, and energy into negotiating a trade term sheet in 2018,” the Trinidadian prime minister noted, highlighting the fact that “development was put on hold due to sanctions in 2019.”
Faced with the scenario of major commercial obstacles in the energy sector—courtesy of US sanctions against countries with vast resources that refuse to toe the imperial line—the Dragón Gas Field projects from Venezuelan territorial waters to the global market over four trillion cubic feet of non-aligned gas reserves. This figure serves as an immediate and safe reserve for the need of dependent regions—such as Europe—for this necessary hydrocarbon outside their jurisdictions.
Vice President Delcy RodrĂguez, at the time of the signing of the agreement on Wednesday, September 20, noted that “this agreement represents a historic opportunity to develop the gas industry, but also represents the impact on the good neighborly relations that have been woven between our sister countries,” emphasizing that this was all occurring “within the framework of legality and international law.”
The principle of good neighborliness is enshrined in international law and is a determining factor when it comes to advancing development projects in areas with shared resources. This is the view of University of San Francisco professor Sompong Sucharitkul in his publication The Principles of Good-Neighborliness in International Law: “Good neighborly relations require greater attention, especially when neighboring states share common resources; thus, cooperation is imperative for the survival of all states in that neighborhood.”
President Maduro explained that “the big transnational corporations explore and look for shared fields to antagonize and encourage countries like ours, but Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago develop these gas fields in peace.”
The opposite is the case when looking at the Venezuelan Essequibo strip, for example, where the government of Guyana, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, has—with absolute illegality—exploited resources that do not belong to it.
Trinidad and Tobago, which was historically the largest gas producer in the region, reported declines in natural gas production in 2022. The Trinidadian industry has struggled to halt the decline in reserves and gas activity due to a lack of incentives. On top of this, Trinidad and Tobago’s hydrocarbon reserves could be depleted within ten years, according to data provided by BP’s 71st Statistical Review of World Energy.
Washington Grants License to Trinidad and Tobago to Resume Gas Projects With PDVSA
The London-based statistical consultancy firm GlobalData projects that Trinidad and Tobago, based on its existing gas industry, will contribute around 25%, or 820 million cubic feet per day, of natural gas production in the Americas by 2025. But for this to happen, Venezuela’s hydrocarbon reserves have become increasingly necessary.
Undoubtedly, what has just been achieved with the signing of the gas agreement between the governments of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago is a reflection of cooperation under the terms of the principle of international law and good neighborliness in the region. The magnitude of this agreement lies directly in the promotion and maintenance of stability and peace in the Caribbean Basin, and can spread to benefit the surrounding continents.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/ECS/AU/BLA
