A U.S. Treasury Department agency has amended a license granted to Trinidad and Tobago that will allow the country to pay cash for Venezuelan natural gas.

Venezuela remains under U.S. sanctions, although recent reports suggest talks underway could ease or lift some restrictions in exchange for democratic reforms.

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control amended the country’s license to allow “for payments in fiat currency, U.S. dollars, [Venezuelan] Bolivars and via humanitarian means,” Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries announced in an Oct. 17 statement.

The amended license was granted for two years and expires on Oct. 31, 2025.


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The license relates to the planned development and production from Venezuela’s offshore Dragon gas field. Gas from the field will be shipped to Trinidad and used to feed the twin-island country’s four-train Atlantic LNG export plant, which is only running with three trains due to a scarcity of natural gas.

The gas could also potentially be used to feed any number of methanol and ammonia export plants in Trinidad.