PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Oct 20, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government Tuesday said it has located “no original executed agreements” regarding an agreement with Venezuela for the “Fiscal Measurement of the Production of the Dragon Field” project.
The Dragon Field project is a cross-border energy initiative that allows Trinidad and Tobago to tap into Venezuela’s massive offshore natural gas reserves, estimated at about 4.2 trillion cubic feet to feed its underutilized petrochemical plants and Atlantic LNG export terminals
The project is a collaboration between the National Gas Company (NGC) of Trinidad and Tobago, energy giant Shell and Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA
In December 2023, the Venezuelan government granted a 30-year exploration and export license to Shell and NGC.
But in a ststement, the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries said it wanted to clarify the status of its records concerning the project “following recent public statements regarding the execution of the Agreement in English and Spanish.
“To date, no original executed agreements have been located within the Ministry’s records as it relates to the Dragon Field. Furthermore, no copies of English translated versions of any agreements as it relates to the Dragon Field exist in the Ministry’s records.”
The ministry said that inquiries with members of staff who were actively involved in the project when agreements were executed in December 2023, “did not result in the discovery of original executed agreements in either language, or even copies of finalised, executed versions in English.
“A further examination of the Ministry’s records identified a Cabinet Note dated January 2024, with a copy of the executed Fiscal Measurement Agreement in Spanish appended. While this attachment provides a record of the signed executed Agreement in Spanish it does not resolve the absence of the original executed agreement or establish that an English-language version was also executed,” the ministry said.
The Ministry said that its “clarification concerns the documentation available in its records and produced in response to inquiries with staff,” adding that maintaining “a complete and accurate documentary record is essential to the administration of agreements of National importance.
“The Ministry remains committed to ensuring that the Dragon project is supported by verified documentation and to providing accurate information to the public,” the statement said.
But former prime minister and minister of energy minister Stuart Young has rejected the government’s claim that the agreement was executed in Spanish.
He said both the Energy MInister Dr. Roodal Moonilal and tPrime MInister Kamla persad-Bissessar “continue to govern with lies and deception.
“All agreements signed with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela related to the Dragon Field were executed in Spanish and English,” Young said, noting that that “Spanish is Venezuela’s official language and said agreements with the country would therefore always be executed in Spanish.
However, he said official English translations were also provided and executed.
“Copies of these would have been with the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, NGC and Shell,” Young said, accusing the government of trying to mislead the public.
CMC/kj/ir/2026