Venezuela Oil Minister Pedro Tellechea has indicated that Venezuela has agreed on a 20-year natural gas production and exploration deal with BP and The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited.

A statement from the Minister said that the agreement allows for production from the Cocuina gas field off the Venezuelan coast. The Ministry also said that 25% of production will supply Trinidad’s petrochemical sector, while the rest will feed the T&T’s LNG industry.

The field will reportedly produce an estimated 400 million cubic feet per day.

In May 2024, the United States OFAC granted a specific license for the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited, bp and the Government of Trinidad & Tobago to negotiate an agreement to develop the cross border Manakin-Cocuina field with the authorities in Venezuela.

There are large gas resources within the Plataforma Deltana region of Venezuela and in fields that straddle the maritime boundary with Trinidad & Tobago. 

Delivering natural gas by pipeline from those fields to Trinidad for processing through T&T’s world-class LNG and petrochemical industry offers a major opportunity for Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela and countries around the world who are reliant upon imported gas and petrochemicals to fuel their economies. 

David Campbell, bpTT president said: “The award of this license for the Cocuina field is an important milestone for Trinidad and Tobago and for bp. It will allow us to move forward with our planning for the development of these significant discovered resources as we work towards bringing more gas into Trinidad and Tobago’s existing gas infrastructure in this decade. The award of the license would not have been possible without the significant diplomatic efforts by the government of Trinidad and Tobago and their leadership in driving strong collaboration between bp, the National Gas Company and the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.”

The Manakin–Cocuina field extends across the delimitation line between the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, some 68 miles off Trinidad’s southeast coast. The Cocuina field was discovered in 1983, with the discovery of Manakin following in 2000. In 2015, the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela signed a unitization agreement for the joint exploitation and development of hydrocarbon reservoirs of the fields.

Development of the discovered gas resources in the Manakin-Cocuina field is an important part of bp’s longer term development plan for its Trinidad gas business, efficiently using existing infrastructure and supporting bp’s goal to become a simpler, more focused and higher value company.

Commenting on the new license, Ms. Verlier Quan-Vie, Acting President, NGC, said, “NGC welcomes this development as a continuation of efforts to export natural gas from Venezuela to Trinidad and Tobago. We see this as a manifestation of the ongoing engagement and collaboration with Venezuela. We wish to thank the teams at MEEI, MPPP, bp and the NGC teams for their unwavering commitment and dedication as we pursued this milestone. We are excited to work collaboratively with all the parties to progress this and other opportunities for the benefit of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.”

The Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago welcomes the news

The Energy Chamber of Trinidad & Tobago warmly welcomes the very positive news on the signing of a license for bp and NGC to develop the Cocuina gas field in Venezuela's Platiforma Deltana maritime area (to the south east of Trinidad). The license for the Manakin field on the Trinidad & Tobago side of the maritime boundary is already licensed to bp. The Energy Chamber congratulates the teams from bp, NGC and the Government of Trinidad & Tobago in completing the negotiations for these licenses. Once developed, this cross border field can provide significant volumes of natural gas to the LNG and petrochemcial sectors in Trinidad and Tobago and help extend the life of our gas industry and create business opportunities and jobs for our citizens.