THE Prime Minister says exploration of Venezuela's Dragon field has started.

In a post on his Facebook page, Dr Rowley said, "We have made real progress on this issue. Trinidad and Tobago carried the fight here with the unstinting support of neighbours, Barbados, Guyana, Suriname and Dominican Republic."

He added, "It is a milestone in regional co-operation and with US involvement set up a new dawn in regional energy security that reaches all the way to Europe. We all look forward to arriving at the production phases in the not-too-distant future.

Speaking in the House of Representatives on November 15, Energy Minister Stuart Young said, "As was recently announced, there are marine survey vessels currently surveying the Dragon field and the potential seabed pathways for the sub-sea pipeline from the Dragon field to the Hibiscus platform (located in TT waters)."

On December 21, 2023, the Venezuelan government issued the licence to NGC and Shell for the development and export of natural gas from the Dragon gas field to TT.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which falls under the US Treasury, played a key role in granting this licence under the Joe Biden Administration.

Concerns were raised about whether the Dragon project could be in jeopardy after Donald Trump won the US presidential election on November 4.

The US$1 billion Dragon gas deal was first signed between TT and Venezuela in August 2018. But it was left in limbo after the US imposed sanctions on Venezuela in 2019. Trump was president at that time.

In a letter to Trump on November 6, Rowley said, "The Republic of TT and the USA share a long and enduring relationship, founded on deep ties across many sectors, including trade, security, culture and people-to-people exchanges."

He added, "We look forward to further strengthening our co-operation in the years ahead."

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