Trinidad and Tobago, a small country in the Caribbean, has recently requested official permission from the United States to import gas from nearby Venezuela. Currently, the United States has a number of sanctions on Venezuela, and any country wishing to conduct business with them has to receive permission from the US Department of Treasury. Trinidad and Tobago hopes to restart a liquefaction train (facility that produces LNG/liquid natural gas) in their capital, which is currently part of the Atlantic LNG project, a venture spearheaded by Shell and NGC. Trinidad and Tobago is the largest LNG producer in Latin America, and one of the largest in the world, but they have struggled to operate at full capacity due to limited gas production. Venezuela had immense stores of natural gas, and a proposed pipeline between the two countries to transport natural gas to Trinidad and Tobago would solve issues for both countries. The United States has refused to comment, and it is unknown whether they will approve Trinidad and Tobago’s request.
The ongoing energy crisis in Europe, instigated by the Russia-Ukraine war, has led the continent to search for other sources of energy in order to keep the region functioning. One of these energy needs is liquefied natural gas, and Trinidad and Tobago have taken advantage of this need by timing their request for when their production capabilities are needed most. However, the chances of the US allowing this to happen are pretty low. While its true that Trinidad has the ability to provide a considerable amount of energy to Europe, the timeline is too long. Their proposed plan to transport natural gas from Venezuela is working on a 5+year timeline, which fails to address the energy needs of Europe right now. And in this case, I think the United State’s interest in keeping Venezuela under crippling sanctions will ultimately prevail, and the request will be denied.
The primary issue here is that the US, and Europe by extension, receive nothing positive from a deal like this occurring. Even years down the line, it is highly likely that Europe will have found other sources of LNG, and Trinidad and Tobago’s increased production capacity will be unnecessary. Rather, the United States would lose a degree of influence and control over Venezuela, a country that could negatively affect politics in Latin America and lead an anti-American movement in the region (if given enough freedom) that would jeopardize the US’s safety in its region of the world.
Link to Article: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exclusive-trinidad-asks-us-allow-venezuelan-gas-imports-lng-plant-2022-11-04/