Caracas, March 16, 2017 ( venezuelanalysis.com ) – Venezuela and Trinidad & Tobago signed an agreement Wednesday for the construction, operation, and maintenance of a new gas pipeline connecting the new nations. The deal is valued at over US$100 million and will involve the participation of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, its Trinidadian counterpart National Group Gas, as well as transnational Royal Dutch Shell.

The pipeline will reportedly link Venezuela’s Dragon and Mariscal de Sucre fields, located on the northern coast of eastern Sucre state, with the Hibiscus gas field in Trinidad.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Nelson Martinez indicated the project will dramatically increase Trinidad & Tobago’s access to natural gas, describing the deal as a “win-win”.

“The initial idea is to begin producing for Trinidad & Tobago within two or three years 200 or 300 million square feet of gas,” the minister estimated.

The latest agreement follows a visit by Trinidadian Prime Minister Keith C. Rowley to Caracas this past December where he and President Nicolas Maduro signed three high profile energy deals.

Venezuela is home to some of the largest natural gas reserves on the planet, with the Dragon field alone estimated to contain approximately 12 to 13 trillion cubic feet.