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shake d livin wake d dead wrote:closing down petrotrin is ah achievement oarrrr
Trinidad natural gas deal with Venezuela raises US sanctions issues
August 29, 2018
By Eve George
Caribbean News Now Senior Correspondent
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — The recently signed agreement between the governments of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago for the exploitation, transfer and sale of the natural gas reserves located in Venezuela’s “Dragon” field has raised questions as to the implications of current US sanctions.
The deal, details of which have been kept secret, will allow Trinidad and Tobago to access gas through a direct line from Venezuela through a joint venture between energy giant Shell, the Venezuela state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA) and local company National Gas Company (NGC), which will create the infrastructure, to be structured through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to be formed and owned by PDVSA, Shell and NGC.
Shell’s pipelines will be used to transport the Dragon field gas to the Hibiscus platform off the northwest coast of Trinidad. The Hibiscus platform is jointly owned by the Trinidad and Tobago government and Shell.
Many of the reports of the “Dragon agreement” refer to “cheap energy” for Trinidad and Tobago.
However, current US Treasury Department sanctions imposed on Venezuela by Executive Order 13835 dated May 21, 2018, among other things, prohibit transactions by a US person or within the US related to the sale, transfer, assignment, or pledging as collateral by the government of Venezuela of any equity interest in any entity in which it has a 50 percent or greater ownership interest.
Further, any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in the order is prohibited. Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in the order is also prohibited.
According to the US Treasury Department, EO 13835 closes another avenue for corruption by denying the Venezuelan regime the ability to earn money by selling off public assets at “fire sale” prices at the expense of the Venezuelan people.
In the absence of any detail, it is not known if the new agreement is an attempt to bypass US sanctions and designed to avoid the US banking system entirely, not an easy task in the energy industry.
Caribbean News Now has asked the Treasury Department if it is aware of the agreement in question and its terms. If so, is it satisfied that it does not infringe the provisions of EO 13835 and/or any other applicable sanctions or does it in fact represent a prohibited sale of equity by Venezuela at a “fire sale” price at the expense of the people of Venezuela?
No response has yet been received.
In the meantime, the opposition chief whip, David Lee, told Caribbean News Now that the opposition has two major concerns as it relates to the Dragon Field gas deal with Venezuela, which are the secrecy surrounding the deal as well as the ability of both parties (the Venezuelan government and Trinidad and Tobago government) to deliver upon the agreed deal.
“Within our Parliamentary Framework we have a subcommittee of the Parliament called the Energy Committee, which is responsible for reviewing/benchmarking/analyzing of energy issues on behalf of the people of this nation in a bipartisan manner. This issue was never brought before this committee at any point in time,” Lee said, adding that the opposition is therefore unable to report:
1) The total amount of taxpayers’ money that would be spent on this deal;
2) What concessions the Trinidad and Tobago government has offered to any of the companies involved;
3) Proper commencement date and date of first gas supply.
He said the second major concern deals with the ability to deliver on the agreement in terms of Venezuela’s technical ability to deliver on any such infrastructure and commitments given the economic constraints it faces.
“However, of more critical, diplomatic and economic concern has been the sanctions placed on Venezuela by the United States. As a result of these sanctions one of the major issues we continue to question is has the government of Trinidad and Tobago really taken these sanctions into consideration and the possible repercussions they pose,” Lee continued.
He noted that the government of Trinidad and Tobago has given no information or assurances that the US Treasury Department is aware of the details of this deal.
“The absence or vacuum of potent information and details of this deal creates a rather vulnerable diplomatic outlook for Trinidad as, given the sanctions placed on Venezuela, there is the possibility that the US government can view this as an ‘exit strategy’ to assist companies involved in this process to evade these sanctions or the US banking system. If such a view is held by the US government there is no doubt that it can result in tremendous diplomatic issues between Trinidad and Tobago and the United States,” Lee said.
Caribbean News Now also attempted to contact Trinidad and Tobago’s minister of energy, Franklin Khan, and minister of national security, Stuart Young, both of whom witnessed the signing of the agreement. However, to date, neither has responded.
toyota2nr wrote:I wonder how all the PNM tuners feeling? How they feel to know that they contributed to the demise of this once great country
hydroep wrote:This thing has the potential to get very messy. Frankie ducking as usual...Trinidad natural gas deal with Venezuela raises US sanctions issues
August 29, 2018
By Eve George
Caribbean News Now Senior Correspondent
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — The recently signed agreement between the governments of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago for the exploitation, transfer and sale of the natural gas reserves located in Venezuela’s “Dragon” field has raised questions as to the implications of current US sanctions.
The deal, details of which have been kept secret, will allow Trinidad and Tobago to access gas through a direct line from Venezuela through a joint venture between energy giant Shell, the Venezuela state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA) and local company National Gas Company (NGC), which will create the infrastructure, to be structured through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to be formed and owned by PDVSA, Shell and NGC.
Shell’s pipelines will be used to transport the Dragon field gas to the Hibiscus platform off the northwest coast of Trinidad. The Hibiscus platform is jointly owned by the Trinidad and Tobago government and Shell.
Many of the reports of the “Dragon agreement” refer to “cheap energy” for Trinidad and Tobago.
However, current US Treasury Department sanctions imposed on Venezuela by Executive Order 13835 dated May 21, 2018, among other things, prohibit transactions by a US person or within the US related to the sale, transfer, assignment, or pledging as collateral by the government of Venezuela of any equity interest in any entity in which it has a 50 percent or greater ownership interest.
Further, any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in the order is prohibited. Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in the order is also prohibited.
According to the US Treasury Department, EO 13835 closes another avenue for corruption by denying the Venezuelan regime the ability to earn money by selling off public assets at “fire sale” prices at the expense of the Venezuelan people.
In the absence of any detail, it is not known if the new agreement is an attempt to bypass US sanctions and designed to avoid the US banking system entirely, not an easy task in the energy industry.
Caribbean News Now has asked the Treasury Department if it is aware of the agreement in question and its terms. If so, is it satisfied that it does not infringe the provisions of EO 13835 and/or any other applicable sanctions or does it in fact represent a prohibited sale of equity by Venezuela at a “fire sale” price at the expense of the people of Venezuela?
No response has yet been received.
In the meantime, the opposition chief whip, David Lee, told Caribbean News Now that the opposition has two major concerns as it relates to the Dragon Field gas deal with Venezuela, which are the secrecy surrounding the deal as well as the ability of both parties (the Venezuelan government and Trinidad and Tobago government) to deliver upon the agreed deal.
“Within our Parliamentary Framework we have a subcommittee of the Parliament called the Energy Committee, which is responsible for reviewing/benchmarking/analyzing of energy issues on behalf of the people of this nation in a bipartisan manner. This issue was never brought before this committee at any point in time,” Lee said, adding that the opposition is therefore unable to report:
1) The total amount of taxpayers’ money that would be spent on this deal;
2) What concessions the Trinidad and Tobago government has offered to any of the companies involved;
3) Proper commencement date and date of first gas supply.
He said the second major concern deals with the ability to deliver on the agreement in terms of Venezuela’s technical ability to deliver on any such infrastructure and commitments given the economic constraints it faces.
“However, of more critical, diplomatic and economic concern has been the sanctions placed on Venezuela by the United States. As a result of these sanctions one of the major issues we continue to question is has the government of Trinidad and Tobago really taken these sanctions into consideration and the possible repercussions they pose,” Lee continued.
He noted that the government of Trinidad and Tobago has given no information or assurances that the US Treasury Department is aware of the details of this deal.
“The absence or vacuum of potent information and details of this deal creates a rather vulnerable diplomatic outlook for Trinidad as, given the sanctions placed on Venezuela, there is the possibility that the US government can view this as an ‘exit strategy’ to assist companies involved in this process to evade these sanctions or the US banking system. If such a view is held by the US government there is no doubt that it can result in tremendous diplomatic issues between Trinidad and Tobago and the United States,” Lee said.
Caribbean News Now also attempted to contact Trinidad and Tobago’s minister of energy, Franklin Khan, and minister of national security, Stuart Young, both of whom witnessed the signing of the agreement. However, to date, neither has responded.
https://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/2018/08/29/trinidad-natural-gas-deal-with-venezuela-raises-us-sanctions-issues/
My betterment?loudestman99 wrote:Y bash the govt
They are doing it for your betterment
loudestman99 wrote:Y bash the govt
They are doing it for your betterment
rspann wrote:Toruba stadium roof was pressure washed yesterday...
shake d livin wake d dead wrote:rspann wrote:Toruba stadium roof was pressure washed yesterday...
Because the cpl final is soon...people should ask why they cant host the womens world cup later in the year...waste ah time stadium
linton wrote:shake d livin wake d dead wrote:rspann wrote:Toruba stadium roof was pressure washed yesterday...
Because the cpl final is soon...people should ask why they cant host the womens world cup later in the year...waste ah time stadium
What was the bill on that the last time? Wasnt it a few millions? So every year this has to be done? What a waste.
The_Honourable wrote:ahh boi... sea lots red and ready for 2020.
To be fair, PP did say that it couldn't be done.
Moneys well spent important stuff...and they can continue to run under it on the highway as usual ..pray allyuh eh hit any cause they coming for your family if u doThe_Honourable wrote:ahh boi... sea lots red and ready for 2020.
To be fair, PP did say that it couldn't be done.
randolphinshan wrote:The_Honourable wrote:ahh boi... sea lots red and ready for 2020.
To be fair, PP did say that it couldn't be done.
Great work from a great government. PP were only concerned to build sub standard box drains and roads while paying contractor friends BILLIONS. As of today with all this money spent Penal and Debe is still a lagoon in rainy weather and all the roads mash up.
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