Venezuela’s Natural Gas Could Be a Faster Prize

Venezuela’s oil reserves are vast, but some of the quickest opportunities to develop the country’s resources lie offshore, in pockets of natural gas beneath the seafloor along the eastern coast near Trinidad and Tobago. Many of those fields were discovered decades ago but went largely untouched as Caracas focused on extracting and selling oil; companies such as Shell have pushed to produce the gas for years.

U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and its state oil company have been a major barrier to expanding gas production, though the Treasury Department has been gradually loosening restrictions, including through new directives issued on Friday. Much of the gas sits close to Trinidad and Tobago, which has the infrastructure to bring the fuel ashore and export it, so cooperation between the neighbors is essential.

Venezuela, eastern coast

venezuela, natural gas, offshore fields, trinidad, shell, us sanctions, treasury department, gas production, caracas, cooperation