Shell is gearing up to restart preliminary work on the Dragón gas field, a project that straddles the shallow waters between Venezuela and Trinidad, as confidence grows that the U.S. administration under President Donald Trump will soon grant a new license exempting the venture from sanctions. According to Bloomberg, this move could mark a critical turning point for energy relations in the Caribbean, with significant implications for regional gas supplies, U.S. foreign policy, and the economic fortunes of both Trinidad and Venezuela.
The Dragón field, boasting more than 4 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, lies just a few kilometers from Shell’s Hibiscus platform off Trinidad’s coast. For Trinidad and Tobago—a nation whose liquefied natural gas (LNG), ammonia, and petrochemical exports have been hampered by declining domestic gas production for over a decade—the promise of new raw material is a lifeline. The country's state-owned National Gas Company (NGC) is Shell’s partner in the project, and together they hope to revive Trinidad’s Atlantic liquefaction complex, a facility where both Shell and BP hold major stakes.
Trinidad’s gas shortage has hit its export sector hard. As Bloomberg notes, the resulting drop in LNG and petrochemical shipments, including ammonia critical to U.S. farmers, has rippled far beyond the Caribbean. The Dragón project, therefore, is not just a local concern—it’s a regional economic issue with global supply chain ramifications.
The path to this moment has been anything but straightforward. In April 2025, the Trump administration revoked petroleum and gas licenses in Venezuela, aiming to ratchet up pressure on a government it regards as a haven for drug cartels. Yet, even as U.S. warships patrolled Venezuelan waters and American military aircraft targeted suspected drug-trafficking vessels, a parallel diplomatic effort was underway. Executives from oil majors and Trinidadian officials shuttled between Washington, Caracas, and Port of Spain, lobbying for exemptions that would allow crucial gas projects to resume.
Dragón is just one of several offshore gas developments that had been progressing before the Trump administration’s sanctions shift in 2019. BP, too, is seeking to recover its license to exploit the Venezuelan portion of the Manakin-Cocuina gas field, a resource that straddles the maritime border between Venezuela and Trinidad. Both Shell and BP’s interests are closely tied to the Atlantic liquefaction complex, underscoring the high stakes for multinational energy companies operating in the region.
According to sources cited by Bloomberg, the U.S. administration now appears ready to permit oil companies to restart work in Venezuela—on one condition: that taxes and royalties are not paid to the Venezuelan government in U.S. dollars. This caveat is designed to ensure that the Maduro regime does not receive significant financial benefit, a stipulation that reflects the dual-track approach Washington has taken toward Venezuela. On the one hand, it maintains military and economic pressure; on the other, it carves out exceptions for projects deemed vital to regional stability and U.S. interests.
The terms of Shell’s new license are still being hammered out. The company is pushing for a duration of up to 10 years—far longer than the original short-term license. This, Shell argues, is essential for enabling the long-term investment required to bring Dragón’s vast reserves online. As of late 2023, Venezuela’s Ministry of Petroleum had already granted Shell and NGC a 30-year production-sharing contract for Dragón, setting the stage for renewed activity once U.S. approval comes through.
The diplomatic dimension of the deal has not gone unnoticed. On September 30, 2025, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Trinidad’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to reaffirm American support for Trinidad’s access to the Dragón field. However, Rubio made it clear that “measures must be taken to ensure that it does not provide significant benefits to the Maduro regime,” according to a U.S. State Department statement. Persad-Bissessar, for her part, has been a vocal supporter of recent U.S. actions against suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean, aligning Trinidad’s security interests with those of Washington.
For Shell and NGC, the Dragón project is the culmination of years of negotiation. Initial terms were agreed back in 2018, but progress stalled after the first Trump administration imposed sweeping petroleum sanctions on Caracas in January 2019. Now, with a new carve-out potentially on the horizon, both companies are racing to restart work that could reshape the region’s energy landscape.
BP’s parallel efforts to regain its license for the Manakin-Cocuina field highlight the broader significance of U.S. policy shifts. Both Shell and BP are eager to replenish Trinidad’s dwindling gas supplies, not only to secure their own investments but also to stabilize the island nation’s export-dependent economy. As Bloomberg points out, the decline in Trinidad’s gas production has been a persistent issue, undermining the country’s role as a leading exporter of LNG and ammonia.
The U.S. Treasury Department, which oversees licensing through its Office of Foreign Assets Control, has so far declined to comment on the specifics of the Dragón deal. Likewise, Shell has referred all inquiries to the government of Trinidad, and BP has not responded to requests for comment. The opacity surrounding the negotiations only adds to the sense of anticipation—and, for some stakeholders, anxiety—about what the final terms will entail.
One thing is clear: the Dragón project sits at the intersection of geopolitics, energy security, and international commerce. For Washington, the challenge is to balance its desire to isolate the Maduro regime with the practical need to support regional allies and ensure stable energy supplies. For Trinidad, the stakes are existential—securing new gas sources is essential to maintaining its export industries and broader economic health.
As the clock ticks toward a final decision, all eyes are on the U.S. administration. Will it grant Shell the long-sought license, and if so, on what terms? Can the project proceed in a way that satisfies the competing demands of diplomacy, security, and economic necessity? Only time will tell, but for now, the Dragón field remains a symbol of the complex, often contradictory forces shaping the modern energy landscape.
With negotiations still ongoing and the potential for significant regional impact, the outcome of the Dragón project could well set a precedent for future cross-border energy cooperation—and for how global powers navigate the tangled web of sanctions, politics, and resource needs in a rapidly changing world.