Green light for BP and Trinidad and Tobago’s firm for cross-border offshore gas field

BP Trinidad and Tobago, a subsidiary of the UK-headquartered energy giant BP, and Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gas Company (NGC) have secured a two-year license from the United States government’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to explore and develop a gas field in the Caribbean which straddles the maritime boundary between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.

While welcoming the award of the license, the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago noted that it would enable BP, the National Gas Company, and the country’s government to negotiate an agreement to develop the cross-border Manakin-Coquina field with the authorities in Venezuela.

This license, which covers a project with approximately 1 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas reserves, is slated to expire on May 31, 2026. The Energy Chamber believes there are huge gas resources within the Plataforma Deltana region of Venezuela and in fields that straddle the maritime boundary with Trinidad and Tobago.

As a result, it is convinced that delivering natural gas by pipeline from those fields to Trinidad for processing through LNG and the petrochemical industry presents “a major opportunity” for these two countries and others that rely upon imported gas and petrochemicals to fuel their economies.

“Bringing these gas resources to Trinidad & Tobago is one of the six points included in the Energy Chamber’s Six-Point plan for the future of the gas industry. As well as delivering much needed gas to the downstream industry, the work involved in drilling and installing infrastructure on new gas fields offers important opportunities for many members of the Energy Chamber,” highlighted the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago.

This is the second license for energy projects between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, issued by the United States. The first one, given in 2023 to Shell and NGC, is for Venezuela’s Dragon field, which will export gas to Trinidad.

Stuart Young, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, is optimistic about the opportunities for cross-border gas with Venezuela and sees it as a way to boost the volumes of this fossil fuel.

Trinidad and Tobago’s shallow water competitive bidding round 2023/2024, launched on October 3, 2023, closed on May 27, 2024. While 13 offshore blocks were placed on offer, six bids were received for four blocks. These bids will be evaluated within four months.

EOG Resources Trinidad is the sole bidder for Block Lower Reverse L and Block NCMA 4(a) while BP Exploration Operating Company is the only bidder for Block NCMA 2. On the other hand, EOG, BP, and BG International submitted bids for Block Modified U(c).

Recently, Heritage Petroleum brought a new oil well online while BP hired Aquaterra Energy for work on the Cypre project off the southeast coast of Trinidad and Tobago.