Trinidad and Tobago has taken another significant step to advance cross-border gas field development with neighbouring Venezuela. On July 24th 2024, under the stewardship of The Honourable Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, Stuart R. Young SC MP, the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries (MEEI) announced the signing of the Cocuina Field Exploration and Production (E&P) License by Venezuela’s Oil Minister Pedro Tellechea on behalf of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. NGC Exploration and Production Limited (NGC E&P), – a wholly owned subsidiary of The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) and bp Exploration (Caribbean) Limited (bpECL) have been named as co-licensees. This field is located offshore Venezuela in Plataforma Deltana Block 4 (Block 4). The signing took place on July 24th 2024, at the Mira Flores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela.
This is the second upstream license signed by NGC E&P in Venezuela, following the Dragon Field E&P license, which was signed on December 21st, 2023 and published in the Official Gazette of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on January 29th, 2024. The granting of the Cocuina E&P license will now enable the joint development of the cross-border Cocuina–Manakin gas field, – one of three cross-border reservoir fields that straddle the maritime (international) border between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. The other two are the Loran/Manatee and Kapok/Dorado fields.