Shell Eyes Venezuelan Gas, Boosts Trinidad LNG

0:00On April 1st, Shell is deep in talks with Venezuela's government to tap into four huge offshore gas zones right near Trinidad and Tobago. We're talking the massive dragon field with 4.2 trillion cubic feet of gas, plus spots in the Mariscal Sukray project. Shell's been chasing this for years, and my Greenline Dragon by year's end. They're expanding beyond Dragon to grab three more fields in Mariscal Sukray and the 7.3 trillion cubic feet Loran area, which crosses. Into Trinidad, Chevron's pulling out of Loran to focus on Venezuela's heavy oil, leaving it open for Shell. The plan, pipe that Venezuela gas over to Trinidad, for liquefied natural gas processing. This hits big for Trinidad's Atlantic LNG plan, where Shell owns 45%. It's Latin America's largest but running way below capacity, down to 12 million tons a year from 15.5, shipping under nine last year. Due to gas shortages, folks in the nose say tying Loran wells to Shell's manatee platform in Trinidad makes perfect sense.

1:04Shell's CEO, well-sawane, just said at a Houston conference, they could approve up to two Venezuelan projects this year, if terms improve, focusing on gas. For LNG exports, Venezuela's fields are closer to Trinidad's setup anyway, just six miles apart at the nearest point. Russian interest from old Rosneff deals and some fields are a snack, but Shell sources are confident they'll sort it out. If this lands, it unlocks 20 trillion cubic feet total, firing of energy flows across the region. That wraps U.S. News Today, brought to you with AI. I'm Corey, with the story.