00:00Attorney General John Jeremy reveals a new development that came to be on October 8th
00:05concerning the drag and gas deal between TNT and Venezuela.
00:09I am pleased to announce that the Department of the Treasury of the United States
00:16has granted the OFAC license that was applied for by this government
00:25and the National Gas Company to pursue the exploration of the drag and gas field.
00:34Jeremy states that the license allows United States personnel,
00:38such as affiliates, contractors and service providers,
00:41acting on behalf of the stakeholders in TNT and energy giant Shell
00:45to undertake transactions necessary to the negotiations with the Venezuelan government.
00:51The effect of the grant of this license is to permit the government and the NGC
00:59to engage in negotiations with the government of Venezuela and other stakeholders
01:06to advance the drag and gas project without breaching sanctions imposed
01:15by the United States government and U.S. law.
01:20He distinguishes this license from the previous OFAC license obtained under the former PNM administration.
01:27That one, according to Jeremy, licensed the entire Dragon project.
01:31But a three-tiered approach has now been taken with a deadline set on the license.
01:36In this first approach, we go to April of 2026, with certain benchmarks in place.
01:47There are terms and conditions in the license which ensure that U.S. companies benefit.
01:55And there are tiers as to exactly how they should benefit.
02:03Trinidad obviously stands to benefit.
02:06And to a certain extent, of course, the people of Venezuela will benefit.
02:14As it pertains to Venezuela, he states that some benefits will be permitted while others will not.
02:20But he hasn't gone into detail on what those benefits will be.
02:24When the deal was being negotiated previously,
02:27monetary payment for Venezuela was an area that had to be navigated with the U.S. sanctions in place.
02:32Is that factored in at all into the OFAC license?
02:36The license does make, as I said, it does speak to that matter publicly, but it does speak to that matter.
02:51And that is something that has to be borne in mind in the course of the negotiations.
02:59As for when the government plans to engage Venezuela, Jeremy says there is a window of opportunity
03:05and the government is moving assiduously to exploit that window with urgency.
03:10And he's optimistic.
03:12Three days ago, there was no license.
03:16Today there is a license.
03:20And there is the Dragon Deal project has come alive.
03:30That much is obvious.
03:32It has also come at a time when the geopolitical situation between the U.S. and Venezuela has intensified
03:50compared to where it was at previously.
03:52We did not have U.S. warships in Caribbean waters and all of that.
03:59So is it a little bit preemptive without actually starting negotiations with Venezuela
04:05on this particular, with all these terms and conditions of this particular OFAC license
04:09to say that the Dragon Deal has come alive?
04:12I might not have said that we have begun negotiations with Venezuela,
04:20but I have reason for saying that the Dragon Gas Deal is alive.
04:28And what I mean by that is that we might not have sat around a table.
04:38No one has gone to Caracas.
04:42But that does not mean to say that there has been radio silence between Trinidad and Venezuela.
04:51Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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