bp, together with its partner the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC), has been awarded an exploration and production license by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for the development of the Cocuina gas discovery. Cocuina is part of the cross-border Manakin-Cocuina gas field.
bp already holds a working interest in and operatorship of the Manakin field, which sits on the Trinidad side of the maritime border. Holding licenses and operatorship for both the Manakin and Cocuina gas fields simplifies the joint development plan and will enable bp to focus on efficiently developing gas resources from the unitized field, tying back to existing gas infrastructure in Trinidad.
David Campbell, bpTT president said: “The award of this license for the Cocuina field is an important milestone for Trinidad and Tobago and for bp. It will allow us to move forward with our planning for the development of these significant discovered resources as we work towards bringing more gas into Trinidad and Tobago’s existing gas infrastructure in this decade. The award of the license would not have been possible without the significant diplomatic efforts by the government of Trinidad and Tobago and their leadership in driving strong collaboration between bp, the National Gas Company
and the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.”
The Manakin–Cocuina field extends across the delimitation line between the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, some 68 miles off Trinidad’s southeast coast. The Cocuina field was discovered in 1983, with the discovery of Manakin following in 2000. In 2015, the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela signed a unitization agreement for the joint exploitation and development of hydrocarbon
reservoirs of the fields. Development of the discovered gas resources in the Manakin-Cocuina field is an important part of bp’s longer term development plan for its Trinidad gas business, efficiently using existing infrastructure and supporting bp’s goal to become a simpler, more focused and higher value company.
Notes to editors:
bp's key operations in Trinidad involves approximately 680,000 acres off Trinidad’s east coast. bp Trinidad and Tobago operates 16 offshore platforms and two onshore processing facilities.
On May 28 2024, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (‘OFAC’) granted the government of Trinidad and Tobago a specific license to allow for parties associated with the development of the Manakin-Cocuina cross-border gas field to continue to progress with joint development plans for the fields. This license allows development planning to progress while US sanctions on Venezuela remain in place and allows for the involvement of US persons. bp is listed as a party in the OFAC license.
bp will hold 80% equity in the Cocuina field with the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC) holding 20%.
Within the unitized Manakin-Cocuina field, 66% of the discovered gas resources have been allocated to Trinidad (the Manakin field) with 34% allocated to Venezuela (the Cocuina field).
