STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOSBy Curtis Williams and Marianna Parraga
Negotiations between the trio initially had progressed little over a U.S. demand that the proposed Dragon gas project exclude cash payments to Venezuela or its state companies. That remains a hurdle, though Trinidad has asked the Biden administration to reconsider. PDVSA in 2013 finished testing gas output at Dragon, whose reserves it estimated at 4.2 trillion cubic feet. But the field has never been commercially active due to Venezuela's lack of capital and, more recently, U.S sanctions."Discussions on the Dragon project involving the governments of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago and Shell are ongoing and commercially confidential," Shell told Reuters.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said its overall Venezuela sanctions policy remains in place to limit revenue flows to Maduro with the goal of"encouraging a return to democracy in Venezuela."Trinidad's Prime Minister Keith Rowley in January suggested it could pay for the gas in humanitarian goods, including food and medicine.
In May, Trinidad's government asked U.S. officials to amend some license terms related to Dragon's expected proceeds.