Foreign Powers and Investors in Trinidad and Tobago 2026

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO · FOREIGN PLAYERS

Energy majors, fertiliser makers, lenders and governments all hold a stake in the two islands. Here is who is there, what they bring and what they want back in October 2026.

Trinidad and Tobago foreign players, from oil majors to US forces, shape a two-island economy that lives on gas. This guide names them, shows what each brings and says what each wants in return, as of October 2026.

The biggest names are bp and Shell in gas, EOG Resources in drilling and the United States in security. Lenders, China, India and the European Union play smaller parts.

Three earlier Rio Times guides cover other angles: who runs the economy, the great-power contest and the Caribbean neighbourhood. This guide follows companies, lenders, forces and donors instead.

More coverage sits on the Rio Times Caribbean page, and the report on the Nutrien shutdown gives the news side. Every figure below carries its date, and every foreign-currency amount carries a US$ value.

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Who Counts as Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Players

Foreign players here fall into six groups: energy companies, fertiliser and methanol makers, lenders, governments, aid agencies and the diaspora. Each wants something different from the islands.

A 2024 US government investment guide says energy usually supplies about half of economic output and 80 percent of export earnings. That is why most foreign money, and most foreign worry, centres on gas.

The list below explains the main names in plain English. Each is described again where it first matters.

• bp. An international energy group and the largest gas supplier to the home market.
• Shell. An international energy group with gas fields and a stake in the export plant.
• EOG Resources. A US oil and gas company that drills offshore under four government contracts.
• NGC. The National Gas Company, wholly owned by the state, which buys the gas and sells it on.
• OFAC. The US Treasury office that issues sanctions licences, including for Venezuelan gas.
• IMF. The International Monetary Fund, the global lender that reviews the islands’ economy each year.

Atlantic LNG is the export plant, owned by members that the company names as bp, Shell and NGC. LNG means liquefied natural gas, gas chilled into a liquid so ships can carry it.

The Gas Producers and Newcomers

bp supplies the most gas to the home market and holds a 45% stake in Atlantic LNG, the company says. On Thursday, 6 August 2026 it agreed to buy oil company Woodside Energy’s 70% share of the Calypso deepwater gas project.

Calypso lies in block TTDAA 14, and bp would become sole owner and operator. The deal needs government and regulatory approval, bp expects it to close by the end of 2026, and no price is given.

bp approved its Ginger gas project on 27 March 2025, with four subsea wells linked to the Mahogany B platform. First gas is expected in 2027, with peak output of 62,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

Coconut is a 50-50 field between bp and EOG, which operates it. The final investment decision, the formal go-ahead, came on 27 August 2024, with first gas expected in 2027.

EOG Resources runs offshore blocks under four production sharing contracts with the government, its 2025 annual filing says. Its 2025 net output averaged about 230 million cubic feet of gas and 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate daily.

EOG sells its gas to NGC, and its crude and condensate to bp and to Heritage Petroleum, an indirectly state-owned producer. The filing shows a 2025 gas price of US$3.78 per thousand cubic feet, and Trinidad is about 1% of EOG’s proved reserves.

Shell took the final investment decision on its Manatee gas field in the East Coast Marine Area in 2024, the company says. Shell is also named in the US licence for the Venezuelan Dragon project, covered below.

ExxonMobil, the oil major, holds the TTUD-1 ultra-deep offshore block, awarded in August 2025, the Energy Ministry says. On Monday, 8 June 2026 the minister approved the US company Occidental Petroleum, known as Oxy, as an investor in that block.

Touchstone Exploration, a Calgary company, reported output of 4,433 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the second quarter of 2026. It operates onshore acreage in Trinidad, the Energy Ministry says.

Its Cascadura gas field gained a booster compressor that entered service on Thursday, 9 July 2026. Its field-estimated gross gas output averaged about 16.5 million cubic feet a day in the quarter, the company says.

Point Lisas, Where Fertiliser and Methanol Makers Operate

Point Lisas is the industrial estate where the islands’ ammonia and methanol plants stand. The Energy Ministry lists 11 ammonia plants there, with a stated 5.2 million tonnes of yearly capacity.

The ministry names the former Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan plants, now Nutrien’s, and Norway’s Norsk Hydro-linked plants. It also names a consortium of Germany’s MAN Ferrostaal, methanol firm Proman and US group Koch Industries, with EOG.

Proman owns and operates 14 petrochemical plants in Trinidad, the Energy Ministry said on 12 June 2025. The ministry release also describes the islands as the world’s second-largest methanol exporter.

Methanol Holdings (Trinidad) runs five methanol plants with over 4 million tonnes of capacity, the ministry says. The ministry calls it the largest supplier to North America, while Canada’s Methanex runs two plants, Titan and Atlas.

Nutrien, a fertiliser group, began a controlled shutdown of its Trinidad nitrogen operations on Thursday, 23 October 2025. It cited port access restrictions imposed by the state energy corporation and a lack of reliable, economic gas supply.

On Monday, 5 October 2026 Nutrien said the shutdown is indefinite and gave no restart conditions. Before the shutdown the plants sold about 85,000 tonnes of ammonia and 55,000 tonnes of urea a month.

Venezuela Gas and the US Licence System

Dragon is a gas field in Venezuelan waters that Trinidad wants to tap and pipe home. Because US sanctions cover dealings with Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, the project has needed US licences.

On 17 October 2023 OFAC amended a licence for the Trinidad government, NGC and Shell on Dragon, the Energy Ministry said. That licence was set to expire on 31 October 2025, and the ministry page does not say what replaced it.

On Friday, 13 February 2026 OFAC issued General Licences 49 and 50 for Venezuela. Licence 50 covers oil and gas operations by certain entities, and Licence 49 covers contingent contracts for certain investment.

OFAC kept adding Venezuela licences through the year, including two on 21 August 2026 for telecommunications. None of the OFAC pages checked names Trinidad, so what Dragon needs today is not confirmed.

On Tuesday, 20 October 2026 the Energy Ministry said it has found no original executed Dragon agreements, in either language. It holds a Spanish copy of the fiscal measurement agreement, attached to a Cabinet note of January 2024.

Investment Climate, Capital Flows and the IMF

World Bank data show net foreign direct investment, foreign money arriving minus foreign money leaving, at minus US$794 million in 2025. It was also negative in 2024, at minus US$453 million, and in 2023, at minus US$1.50 billion.

A negative figure means more foreign capital left than arrived, as the balance-of-payments data record it. The data do not say which sectors or companies drove the outflow.

The US State Department’s 2026 Investment Climate Statement says foreign exchange shortages are the most frequently cited investor concern. Firms face delays getting US dollars for imports and dividends.

The statement adds that US firms remain among the largest investors and that private companies can be 100% foreign-owned. A licence is needed to own more than 30% of a public company.

The statement lists 12 investment treaties in force, 46 state-owned enterprises and a nationwide state of emergency declared on 2 March 2026. It also notes a treaty signed with the United Arab Emirates in February 2026.

The IMF Executive Board concluded the 2026 Article IV review, an annual health check, the Finance Ministry said. Its release of 19 May 2026 cites reserves of about 5.5 months of imports and savings-fund assets of about 25% of GDP.

The State Department puts that savings fund, the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund, at US$6.25 billion in December 2025. The IMF page lists an earlier review of 8 May 2024, and no IMF loan appears in the pages checked.

The United States, Embassy, Forces and Tariffs

The United States is the closest foreign partner on security, and its embassy in Port of Spain leads the work. On Monday, 27 July 2026 Philip Kern, the embassy’s acting head as Chargé d’Affaires, met Energy Minister Roodal Moonilal.

The Energy Ministry said Kern noted that ties present “a unique moment in the history of bilateral relations”. Talks covered data centre and steel plant agreements, and Moonilal said the islands are open to investment to restart the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery.

On 10 December 2024 the governments marked concluded talks on a Status of Forces Agreement, which governs US troops, the embassy said. It has no end date unless renegotiated.

The embassy also described a logistics pact called ACSA and a small US technical team that supports Caribbean coast guards. Trinidad and Tobago joined the Treaty of San José, a counter-drug pact, as of 7 December 2024.

On 15 December 2025 the Foreign Ministry said it approved US military aircraft transit through its airports, which the US calls logistical. The ministry also cited joint exercises, an installed radar system and US Embassy school donations.

It gave no numbers of personnel or aircraft. The State Department’s travel advisory stayed at Level 3, Reconsider Travel, in its update of 13 April 2026.

The Census Bureau shows US goods exports to the islands of US$3.12 billion in 2025 and imports of US$2.68 billion. That is a US surplus of US$446 million, and from January to July 2026 exports were US$2.01 billion.

The Foreign Ministry says the US rate was 15% from 7 August 2025. The US Trade Representative, Washington’s trade office, set 10% from Friday, 24 July 2026.

The Foreign Ministry says crude oil, LNG, ammonia, urea and iron pellets stay at 0%, over 85% of US-bound exports. The US exemption lists were not read, so that 0% claim is the ministry’s.

China, India, the European Union and the Gulf

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Foreign Minister Sean Sobers in New York on Wednesday, 27 May 2026, Beijing’s foreign ministry said. Sobers reaffirmed the one-China policy and said ties with China would not be affected by third parties.

He also said the islands will keep backing the China-CELAC Forum, a grouping of China with Latin American and Caribbean states. The readout gives no trade figure, loan or project, so none is stated here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India visited on 3 and 4 July 2025. The joint statement of 5 July 2025 lists gifts, not investment.

The gifts include 2,000 laptops, 20 dialysis units, two sea ambulances and US$1 million of farm machinery. India also said it would issue Overseas Citizenship of India cards to the diaspora up to the sixth generation.

The statement names no investment amount, credit line or loan. It leaves trade and investment links to the countries’ business support groups.

The European Commission lists EUR 208 million for its Caribbean window, or about US$233 million at 0.894 euros per US$1. That sum is regional, and the rate is the open.er-api.com figure of 27 October 2026.

Projects it lists for the islands include 18 solar systems, a tier 4 data centre and a national e-identifier. It attaches no amounts to them.

The United Arab Emirates signed an investment treaty with the islands in February 2026, the State Department says. No UAE investment amount appears in the pages checked.

Venezuelans, Aid Groups and the Diaspora

R4V, the UN-led coordination platform for Venezuelan migrants, projected about 39,000 Venezuelans in Trinidad and Tobago by the end of 2024. That is the latest figure found on a primary page, so today’s number is not confirmed.

A 2019 registration scheme gave registered Venezuelans work-permit exemptions, R4V says. Their children were allowed into primary schools from September 2023, but approvals were still pending in early 2024.

The diaspora in the United States is a quieter foreign force, linked to the islands by family and trade. Its financial weight is modest, as the next figure shows.

The World Bank puts personal remittances received by the islands at US$199.6 million in 2025, almost unchanged from US$199.2 million in 2024. That is modest, so the diaspora’s weight lies more in goodwill and travel links than in cash.

What It Means for US Readers

Investors should read the islands as a gas-supply story inside a licence system. EOG files with US regulators, so its Trinidad exposure is public, at about 1% of proved reserves.

Buyers of ammonia, urea and LNG face a 0% US tariff on those goods. The Nutrien shutdown shows that gas supply, not duties, is the real risk for fertiliser.

Travellers should note the Level 3 advisory and the state of emergency declared on 2 March 2026. Check State Department advice before booking, since conditions can change with little notice.

Policy watchers should expect continued US security work with Port of Spain through the Status of Forces Agreement. That is a reading of published agreements, not a forecast.

What Is Not Known

The current terms and expiry of any US licence for the Dragon project are not confirmed. Nor is it known whether bp’s Calypso purchase will win approval, and no price was published.

No 2026 lending figure from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank or Chinese lenders could be confirmed from primary pages. The IMF’s 2026 review date and growth forecast were also not available.

The number of US personnel, aircraft and radar sites on the islands is unpublished. No total of US aid to the islands was found.

The true number of Venezuelans is uncertain, and no restart date exists for Nutrien. Plant counts and owners are the Energy Ministry’s own, and its pages are undated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the biggest foreign investors in Trinidad and Tobago?

bp, Shell and EOG Resources lead in gas, and Nutrien, Proman, Methanex and Koch Industries are among the fertiliser and methanol owners. ExxonMobil and Occidental Petroleum hold a deep offshore block.

Are US troops based in Trinidad and Tobago?

The governments concluded talks on a Status of Forces Agreement on 10 December 2024, and the Foreign Ministry cites an installed radar. No troop number appears in the pages checked.

What tariff does the United States charge on goods from Trinidad and Tobago?

The US Trade Representative set 10% on goods of the islands from 24 July 2026. The Foreign Ministry says crude oil, LNG, ammonia, urea and iron pellets stay at 0%.

Why did Nutrien shut its Trinidad plants?

Nutrien cited port access restrictions and a lack of reliable, economic gas supply. It began a controlled shutdown on 23 October 2025 and made it indefinite on 5 October 2026.

Does the IMF lend to Trinidad and Tobago?

No IMF loan arrangement appears in the pages checked. The IMF Executive Board concluded the 2026 Article IV review, the Finance Ministry says.

How many Venezuelans live in Trinidad and Tobago?

R4V projected about 39,000 by the end of 2024. No current official count was confirmed.

Sources: bp (Calypso, 6 August 2026); bp Trinidad and Tobago (Ginger); bp Trinidad and Tobago (Coconut); Shell (Manatee); EOG Resources annual filing 2025 (US SEC); Ministry of Energy (ExxonMobil and Oxy, 8 June 2026); Ministry of Energy (US Chargé d’Affaires, 27 July 2026); Ministry of Energy (Proman); Ministry of Energy (ammonia plants); Ministry of Energy (methanol plants); Ministry of Energy (Dragon licence, October 2023); Ministry of Energy (state company list); Atlantic LNG; Touchstone Exploration (second quarter 2026); Nutrien (5 October 2026); Nutrien (October 2025); US Treasury OFAC (13 February 2026); US Treasury OFAC (21 August 2026); US Embassy in Port of Spain (security agreements); Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs (15 December 2025); Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs (tariffs); US Census Bureau (trade); US State Department (travel advisory); US State Department (2026 Investment Climate Statement); US Commerce Department (investment guide); Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Wang Yi and Sobers); Prime Minister of India (joint statement, July 2025); European Commission (Trinidad and Tobago); Ministry of Finance (IMF review); IMF (country page); World Bank (foreign direct investment); World Bank (remittances); R4V (Trinidad and Tobago plan 2024); US Trade Representative (23 July 2026); US Federal Register (28 July 2026); Ministry of Energy (Dragon documents, 20 October 2026); US Embassy in Port of Spain (leadership page); open.er-api.com (exchange rate) (all accessed 27 October 2026).