After U.S. Destroyer Visit, Venezuela Freezes Trinidad Gas Ties, Upending Caribbean Energy

A four-day visit by a U.S. destroyer to Trinidad and Tobago has triggered the most serious rupture in Caribbean energy ties in years.

After the USS Gravely docked in Port of Spain on October 26 for joint training, Venezuela said it would suspend its energy cooperation with Trinidad—halting work on projects designed to bring Venezuelan offshore gas to Trinidad’s plants.

The immediate casualty is Dragon, a Venezuelan field long planned with Shell and Trinidad’s National Gas Company. Dragon is estimated at roughly 4.2 trillion cubic feet—one of the few near-term volumes large enough to steady gas supply for Atlantic LNG and petrochemicals in Trinidad.

Washington cleared talks on Dragon earlier this month under a specific sanctions license, but Caracas now calls the bilateral climate “hostile.”

Trinidad’s new government under Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has argued the country is not dependent on Venezuelan gas and points to alternatives led by Shell’s Manatee project, a 2.7-tcf field on Trinidad’s side of a cross-border reservoir.

Manatee has a final investment decision and targets first output later this decade. It is legally outside Venezuelan control, but politics can still slow schedules.

Venezuelan Gas Freeze Shakes Caribbean Energy

Behind the story is a decade of stop-start energy diplomacy shaped by U.S. sanctions on Venezuela since 2019 and by the technical reality that Trinidad’s gas-fed economy depends on stable molecules.

Each licensing twist in Washington—and each diplomatic turn in Caracas or Port of Spain—has repeatedly reset timelines for Dragon and related cross-border plans.

The Gravely’s port call, part of a wider uptick in U.S. naval presence that includes the carrier USS Gerald R. Ford operating in the Caribbean, became the fuse for a decision Venezuela had long threatened if it felt encircled.

Why this matters beyond the Caribbean: Trinidad’s LNG cargoes and petrochemicals flow into global markets; a prolonged freeze tightens regional supply just as manufacturers and power generators seek reliability.

For Venezuela, offshore gas is one of the few realistic avenues to earn hard currency and diversify beyond oil. The suspension trades revenue for leverage—and shows how, in a small corner of the Caribbean, a single port visit can reorder energy plans across borders.