Negotiations for the export of gas from Venezuela to Trinidad and Tobago move forward

Caracas.- Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and Shell assessed  the progress of negotiations for the export of gas from Venezuela to Trinidad and Tobago and the completion of Dragón Field Accelerated Production Scheme Project.

The meeting was headed by President of PDVSA Eulogio Del Pino, together with Vice President of Gas and President of PDVSA Gas César Triana, President of Shell Venezuela and Trinidad Luis Prado, representative of Shell for South America and Africa Mounir Bouaziz, as well as members of PDVSA Offshore.

They discussed general premises regarding the Dragón-Hibiscus interconnection project for the shipment of gas from fields in northern Paria and monetization through existing infrastructure in the neighboring country.

They also discussed proposals for the completion of infrastructure related to Dragón Field production –which has 91% progress and it will guarantee the extraction and handling of the gas volumes that will initially go to the internal market. Once the interconnection is completed, gas will be exported via Hibiscus to Trinidad and Tobago.

The negotiation is focused on three aspects: gas volumes, gas price, and interconnection point in the field.

PDVSA's vice president of Gas said that negotiations are moving in the right direction. "We are reviewing the export resource base. We have received proposals to complete the accelerated production project and the future development of the field, in order to increase export volumes to the Caribbean nation. We hope to continue meeting through the joint coordination committee to reach the happy ending of this project”, he said.

Northern Paria has 14.3 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas reserves in four fields: Dragón, Patao, Mejillones and Río Caribe. Dragón alone has 3.1 TCF. At the meeting, they also discussed a proposal for the collection of vent gas from Northern Monagas and other general issues pertaining to the Petroregional del Lago joint venture.

PDVSA is on track for first production of Dragón Field. The first volumes will go to the internal market to replace the diesel currently consumed by the thermoelectric plants, thus releasing 32,000 thousand barrels and generating export revenues for the country.