Understanding Licensing Leverage — The Dragon Gas Context

Grace Notes In Context — Background notes for readers and researchers.

What this page is: a plain-language explainer for the line in the essay that reads:

“Licensing leverage over Dragon / Manakin–Cocuina gas: Washington revoked key licenses in April 2025, then re-authorized a narrowed carve-out in October — throttling T&T’s LNG lifeline.”

This is not rhetoric. It describes a real mechanism — U.S. sanctions licensing — that decides whether Trinidad & Tobago can access Venezuelan gas and keep its LNG industry running.

Quick Guide 1) What are Dragon & Manakin–Cocuina? 2) Why Trinidad & Tobago needs them 3) Why the U.S. holds the keys 4) The 2023–2025 license timeline 5) What “licensing leverage” means 6) Summary & why it matters

1) The Gas Fields

Dragon and Manakin–Cocuina are offshore natural gas reserves straddling the maritime border between Venezuela and Trinidad & Tobago.

Dragon: in Venezuelan waters, operated by PDVSA; large, underdeveloped; geographically close to Trinidad’s infrastructure.

Manakin–Cocuina: a cross-border reservoir (Manakin on T&T side, Cocuina on Venezuelan side) that makes cooperation logical and efficient.

2) Why Trinidad & Tobago Needs Them

Domestic gas production has declined over the past decade. Gas feeds:

• Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports via Atlantic LNG (foreign exchange lifeline)

• Petrochemicals (ammonia, methanol)

• Power generation & industry

Without new supply, LNG trains run below capacity and revenues fall. Cross-border gas is therefore an economic survival issue.

3) Why the U.S. Holds the Keys

Venezuela and PDVSA are under U.S. sanctions. Any deal with PDVSA requires a special license from the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). That license determines if T&T can legally develop, pay for, and import gas from Dragon/Cocuina.

4) License Timeline (2023–2025)

Jan 2023: OFAC issues T&T a special license to negotiate Dragon gas with Venezuela — a diplomatic opening.

Apr 2025: License is revoked amid a harder U.S. line on Caracas — negotiations freeze; Dragon stalls.

Oct 2025: A narrowed carve-out is restored — allowing limited technical work/engagement, but not full commercial flows or payments to PDVSA.

This stop-start toggling is why we describe the license as a control valve.

5) What “Licensing Leverage” Means

Licensing leverage is non-military control through administrative permission. By switching a license ON or OFF, Washington can:

• Shape T&T’s energy security and investment timelines

• Influence foreign policy choices toward Venezuela

• Affect CARICOM dynamics over sanctions and regional diplomacy

Because LNG is T&T’s principal earner, toggling this permission effectively throttles or frees the country’s economic lifeline.

6) Summary — Why it Matters

Dragon and Manakin–Cocuina are not only geological assets; they are geopolitical levers. OFAC licensing is the unseen switch that controls whether gas — and revenue — can flow. That is the meaning behind the phrase “throttling T&T’s LNG lifeline.”

Understanding this context explains why a destroyer docking “next door” cannot be dismissed as routine theatre; energy leverage and military signalling often travel together.

---

← Back to: What Is a U.S. Warship Doing at the Port of T&T?