PORT OF SPAIN (Reuters) — British Petroleum (BP) and Venezuela confirmed on Thursday they are in talks with Trinidad and Tobago government to develop a shared offshore gas field in the Caribbean.
BP has been seeking to increase its natural gas production in Trinidad to feed into the local Atlantic LNG’s liquefied natural gas export facility.
BP’s gas output has fallen in the last five years by almost 1 billion cubic feet per day (BCF/D) from over 2.2 bcf/d down to 1.2 bcf/d.
“BP can confirm that it is in discussions with the government of Trinidad and Tobago and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on the potential development of gas resources in the Manakin-Cocuina field,” said BP in a statement on Thursday.
Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA (PDVSA.UL) said on social media it is considering issuing a license for exploring and developing non-associated gas on its side of the shared field.
Venezuela’s government on Thursday posted a photograph of oil minister Pedro Tellechea meeting with BP’s Trinidad President David Campbell and Trinidad’s Energy Minister Stuart Young in Caracas.
The Manakin-Cocuina field straddles both sides of the countries’ borders and BP said the development talks are in keeping with an easing of U.S. sanctions against Venezuela.
The fields were unitized in 2015 but talks on the development were stalled upon imposition of U.S. sanctions in 2019 against Venezuela, said BP.
The field is estimated to contain just over 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston Editing by Chris Reese and David Gregorio
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.