According to the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela has signed a 20-year natural gas production and exploration agreement with BP and The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) for the Cocuina gas field. The Energy Chamber reported that Venezuela’s Oil Minister Pedro Tellechea confirmed the deal, enabling production from the Cocuina gas field off the Venezuelan coast.
The Energy Chamber stated that the agreement mandates 25% of the gas produced will supply Trinidad’s petrochemical sector, with the remainder feeding Trinidad and Tobago’s LNG industry. The Cocuina field is expected to produce 400 million cubic feet of gas per day.
In May 2024, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) granted a specific license for BP, NGC, and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to negotiate this agreement. The deal focuses on the Manakin-Cocuina field, which spans the maritime boundary between Venezuela and Trinidad & Tobago.
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The Energy Chamber highlighted that the Plataforma Deltana region of Venezuela, along with fields straddling the maritime boundary, holds significant gas resources. They noted that delivering natural gas by pipeline to Trinidad for processing offers a major opportunity for both nations and other countries dependent on imported gas and petrochemicals.
The Energy Chamber welcomed the news, emphasizing the potential benefits. “The signing of a license for BP and NGC to develop the Cocuina gas field is very positive news. Once developed, this cross-border field can provide significant volumes of natural gas to the LNG and petrochemical sectors in Trinidad and Tobago, helping extend the life of our gas industry and creating business opportunities and jobs for our citizens.”
Trinidad and Venezuela are also cooperating to develop the Dragon Gas field which could start gas production in 2025 at 175 million cubic feet per day (cfd), before ramping up to 350 million (cfd). Cooperation with Venezuela will also allow Trinidad to boost its gas output with the Manatee field.
In 2019, Trinidad and Venezuela agreed to independently exploit their respective shares of the hydrocarbon resources from the Loran-Manatee gas field which straddles the maritime border between the two countries. Subsequently, last year, NGC Trinidad and Shell Trinidad (Manatee operator) inked an amended domestic gas sales contract in anticipation that Shell would sanction the Manatee project.
