Venezuela signs gas production deal with BP for Cocuina field

VENEZUELA has signed a 20-year natural gas production and exploration deal with bpTT and the National Gas Company of TT (NGCTT).

A statement from oil minister Pedro Tellechea said the agreement allows for production from the Manakin-Cocuina field, one of three natural gas fields that straddle the eastern border between TT and Venezuela.

Tellechea, in a statement said the agreement allows for production from the Manakin-Cocuina gas field. The ministry said 25 per cent of production will go to TT’s petrochemical sector while the rest will feed TT’s LNG industry.

On May 29, Minister of Energy Stuart Young announced that the US OFAC granted a specific licence to TT for the production of the field with authorities in Venezuela. The licence lasts until May 2026.

At the time, Young said it was still early days and too early to predict a timeline for first gas from the field, but he said the licence was good news for TT as it continued progress for future gas production.

Manakin-Cocuina is a little more than 100 km to the south-east of Galeota point. Next to the Manakin-Cocuina field is the more popular and considerably larger Loran/Manatee field, and next to Loran/Manatee is the Kapok/Dorado field.

The Manakin-Cocuina field is estimated to have one trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas.

In an Energy Now article – the official online news source of the Energy Chamber – the chamber explained that there were large gas resources in the Platforma Deltana region of Venezuela.

“Delivering natural gas by pipeline from those fields to TT for processing through TT’s world-class LNG and petrochemical industry offers a major opportunity for TT,” the article said.

While TT’s Government has not yet said what plans are for the field, sources told Newsday that existing infrastructure could be beneficial to fast-tracking progress.

The field is less than 30 km from bpTT’s Juniper platform, which aggregates gas from the Juniper field. This has a tie-back to another platform which has a pipeline directly to production plants.