Treaty unifies TT-Venezuela energy reserves

THE FACT that the 1990 Trinidad and Tobago-Venezuela Maritime Delimitation Treaty specifically grants both nations access to significant maritime energy reserves could be the real bone of contention between TT and Barbados — and not fishing.

Signed on April 18, 1990 between the then NAR government and the Venezuelan government of president Carlos Andres Perez, the treaty establishes the maritime boundaries between the two nations in the Gulf of Paria, the Serpent’s Mouth, Columbus Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. In signing the treaty, TT and Venezuela resolved “in a true spirit of cooperation and friendship, to settle permanently as good neighbours, the limits of the marine and submarine areas within which the respective governments exercise sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction through the establishment of a precise and equitable maritime boundary between the two countries.”

A cornerstone of the treaty is contained in Article Seven which states: “If any single geological petroleum structure or petroleum field, or any single geological structure or field of any other mineral deposit, including sand and gravel extends across the delimitation line and the part of such structure or field which is situated on one side of the delimitation line is exploitable, wholly or in part, from the other side of the said line, the contracting parties shall, after holding the appropriate technical consultations, seek to reach agreement as to the manner in which the structure or field shall be most effectively exploited and the manner in which the costs and benefits arising from such exploitation shall be apportioned.” TT and Venezuela signed a Memorandum of Understanding in August 2003 to develop maritime cross-border energy reserves.

Article Eight of the treaty states: “In cases where either of the two contracting parties decides to carry out or to permit drilling activities for exploration or exploitation in areas 500 metres away from the delimitation line, such activities should be made known to the other party.” In May 1996, the Barbadian government granted a licence to American oil company Conoco to drill in waters between TT and Barbados. Then Foreign Affairs Minister Mervyn Assam protested the attempted drilling to Bridgetown, because the drill site was within TT’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Guyanese president Bharrat Jagdeo and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez held talks in Georgetown yesterday and access to petroleum supplies were reportedly high on the agenda. The Guyanese have reportedly claimed that the treaty infringes on its marine sovereignty. Over the years, that sovereignty, and by extension energy exploration, has been threatened by both Venezuela and Suriname.