The United States has signaled support for the Trinidad and Tobago government’s Dragon gas project, with Caracas stating it will take “steps to ensure it will not provide significant benefit to the Maduro regime.”
The announcement comes less than five months after the Kamla Persad Bissessar administration initially declared the project “dead,” following a campaign opposing the initiative started under the former People’s National Movement (PNM) government. At the time, Persad Bissessar said, “…we will be foolish not to look elsewhere, and we should have started that search long ago; we should not have put everything into the Dragon gas.” She added that the former PNM government “kept it alive for 10 years, and if you couldn’t do that in 10 years, you cannot do it now,” while noting potential oil and gas reserves in Tobago’s territorial waters.
During talks in New York City on Tuesday between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Prime Minister Persad Bissessar, the State Department’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, said Rubio “acknowledged the importance of energy security to Trinidad and Tobago’s economic prosperity and regional stability.” Pigott added that Rubio “outlined U.S. support for the government’s Dragon gas proposal and steps to ensure it will not provide significant benefit to the Maduro regime,” highlighting deepening ties between Port of Spain and Washington.
Following the meeting, the Prime Minister said, “We had some critical discussions for bilateral interests, and more will be discussed later. We have some good news that we will share with you later.”
The Dragon gas project, located in Venezuelan waters near the maritime border with Trinidad, aims to supply gas to the island by 2027. In December 2023, Trinidad and Tobago secured a 30-year exploration and production license from Venezuela, while Washington revoked the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) license earlier this year that had allowed Shell, the National Gas Company (NGC), and contractors to explore and export gas from the Dragon field.
Former PNM Prime Minister and energy minister Stuart Young noted the reversal in policy, saying, “Amazingly, one of the first announcements of Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar after she was sworn in was that Dragon was dead… Now, in a not surprising complete about-turn, the UNC is pursuing Venezuelan Dragon gas.” He stressed that the success of cross-border gas projects “depends on many factors, including, very critically, multilateral respect and diplomacy as the gas is owned by another state.”
Pigott also said discussions between Rubio and Persad Bissessar included regional security and counternarcotics cooperation. The leaders highlighted Trinidad and Tobago’s efforts to counter transnational criminal organizations and discussed support for restoring stability in Haiti, including backing for the UN Security Council resolution authorizing a Gang Suppression Force.
