(Trinidad Guardian) Former energy minister Kevin Ramnarine is disputing statements made by Energy Minister Stuart Young that the decision by the US government to reimpose sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and gas sector does not affect the special amended licence that was issued to the Government of T&T on October 17, 2023.
This follows a statement by the Minis-try of Energy on Wednesday, which came hours after an announcement from Wash-ington DC that the Biden administration reimposed energy sanctions on Venezuela.
The Ministry of Energy noted that the specific, amended OFAC licence issued to T&T last October is valid until October 31, 2025, and it permits Shell, NGC and contractors to continue the works being undertaken to explore, produce and export natural gas from the Dragon gas field.
However, in an interview with Guardian Media yesterday, Ramnarine said these sanctions “certainly makes it a lot more difficult.”
“It does not derail the Dragon deal but it makes it a lot more difficult for Shell to implement this project because while the Ministry of Energy and the Government may argue what happened has no impact, one cannot escape the fact that Shell would have to implement this project in a heavily-sanctioned Venezuela.
“Doing business in Venezuela in that heavily sanctioned environment is going to be very difficult even if one considers the fact that we have the specific amended licence,” Ramnarine explained.
He added given these circumstance it therefore, makes getting the Dragon project achieve final investment decision (FID) “all that more difficult,” as he noted it may or may not be certain whether Shell may get to FID by next year.
Regarding the cost of the Dragon deal, Ramnarine said such a venture could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, possibly up to $1 billion, citing there are wells which have to be drilled as well as other infrastructure which takes time.
“The Dragon deal continues to be subject to a high degree of uncertainty generated by the geopolitical environment,” Ramnarine reiterated.
Further, he said the way the US foreign policy works is that having imposed the sanctions in the first place means it is highly unlikely the US would make any moves to relax these sanctions in the near future.
Then, with the election looming in the US in November, Ramnarine said there is always the potential for change in the White House.
In his statement, Young reminded the population that T&T secured a 30-year exploration and production licence from the Venezuela government for the Dragon gas field on December 21, 2023.
He said the work to explore, produce and export the natural gas from Dragon to T&T is continuing.
