Venezuela on Wednesday granted a long-term license to British energy producer BP and state-owned National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC) to develop the Venezuelan side of a gas field that extends into the Caribbean country’s waters.
The Cocuina-Manakin field, which on Venezuela’s side is part of the vast gas offshore project Plataforma Deltana, which remains inactive, has some 1 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves.
The companies accelerated negotiations with Venezuela’s government and state energy company PDVSA in recent weeks to have the license signed before a presidential election in the South American country on July 28, sources said.
“We are making a monumental step in the right direction,” said President Nicolas Maduro during the signing ceremony, broadcast by state television station VTV.
Trinidad’s energy minister, Stuart Young, and Venezuelan oil minister Pedro Tellechea also signed some of the documents governing the project.
The U.S. Treasury Department in May issued a license authorizing the project to move forward, despite energy sanctions on Venezuela.
(Reporting by Deisy Buitrago and Vivian Sequera; Writing by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Leslie Adler)