Trinidad offers to pay for Venezuelan gas with humanitarian supplies

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Aban Pearl gas rig in the Caribbean sea, along the Venezuelan coast May 6, 2010. Picture taken May 6, 2010. REUTERS/PDVSA/Handout

PORT OF SPAIN (Reuters) - Trinidad and Tobago would pay Venezuela for natural gas produced at an offshore development with humanitarian supplies like food and medicine, Prime Minister Keith Rowley said, to comply with a U.S. license prohibiting cash payments to the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday issued a license allowing Trinidad to co-develop the Dragon gas field, which holds 4.2 trillion cubic feet of reserves on the Venezuelan side of the maritime border with Trinidad. The project would have Trinidad import the gas and turn it into exportable liquefied natural gas (LNG).