
Click to view full size
October reopened a chapter many in Trinidad and Tobago believed had stalled indefinitely—the Dragon Gas deal. Once touted as a lifeline for the country’s energy security, the deal returned to the centre of political debate. It came as the nation grappled with declining natural gas production and mounting pressure on its industrial base.
The Government signalled renewed engagement with the United States over the cross-border gas arrangement at the end of September. Nine days into October, the United States officially granted a six-month Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) licence authorising the transactions necessary for negotiations with Venezuela to jointly explore the Dragon Gas field.
Shell signalled its readiness to resume preparatory work, but the optimism proved short-lived. Despite the OFAC licence, Venezuela made clear it was not prepared to budge on key terms, while geopolitical tensions rapidly eclipsed technical discussions. As the month wore on, Dragon became entangled in a broader diplomatic fallout that would ultimately derail the project once more.
The portable companion to gazettE. Get notifications, track read articles, and more. The latest news from Trinidad and Tobago, in one place.
Related stories
See articles related to "Dragon Gas collapses, diplomacy frays and crises converge in T&T"