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As the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) eased restrictions allowing energy companies to operate in Venezuela’s oil sector this afternoon, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has welcomed the move, stating that her government was optimistic about the development.

Persad-Bissessar said the two licences (49 and 50), which grant permission to five major energy giants, and allows other global companies to enter agreements with state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), provided a "clear" and "structured" legal framework under US law for oil and gas activity along the country’s shared maritime border.

“As a longstanding close partner of the United States, Trinidad and Tobago views this development as an important opportunity to deepen hemispheric energy cooperation, strengthen regional stability, and reinforce trusted commercial ties,” she wrote in a post to her social media this afternoon.