BP Agrees to Sell 20% Stake in Trinidad Portion of Cocuina-Manakin Gas Field to NGC
Key Takeaways
- •BP is divesting a 20% interest in the Manakin block, the Trinidadian side of the Cocuina-Manakin gas field, to NGC.
- •The reservoir contains an estimated 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, with approximately two-thirds situated in Trinidad and Tobago's waters.
- •BP and NGC have agreed to allocate 70% of produced gas to Atlantic LNG and the remaining 30% to petrochemical applications.
- •Field development is anticipated by the end of 2026, contingent on obtaining OFAC approval due to U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan entities.
- •A 2015 unitisation agreement between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela established the legal framework for jointly developing the shared reservoir.
Supermajor BP has agreed to sell a 20% stake in the Trinidad portion of the cross-border Cocuina-Manakin gas field to the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC), a deal that aligns with Trinidad's broader push to reverse years of declining natural gas output that has strained its LNG and petrochemical industries.
The transaction covers BP's interest in the Manakin block, which contains the Trinidad side of a reservoir estimated to hold approximately 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. NGC already holds a 20% stake in the Cocuina section on the Venezuelan side, secured through a 20-year licence granted in 2024.
NGC chairman Gerald Ramdeen told Reuters that the state-owned company did not want to hold equity solely on the Venezuelan side when roughly two-thirds of the resource lies in Trinidadian waters.
BP and NGC have also agreed to market 70% of the gas produced from Cocuina-Manakin to Atlantic LNG, which operates Latin America's largest LNG export terminal at Point Lisas in Trinidad. The remaining 30% is earmarked for petrochemical use. BP owns 45% of Atlantic LNG, NGC holds 10%, and Shell owns the remaining 45%. New feedgas supplies are critical for Atlantic LNG, which has operated below capacity as maturing fields deplete.
Field development is expected by the end of 2026. BP confirmed earlier this year that it was seeking approval from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to proceed with the cross-border development, given Venezuela's involvement and the sanctions regime applicable to Venezuelan entities. The license requirement reflects the constraints U.S. sanctions impose on any project involving Venezuelan state resources, adding a regulatory layer that could influence the project's timeline.
The Cocuina-Manakin field straddles the maritime border between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. A 2015 unitisation agreement between the two governments established the framework for joint exploitation of the reservoir, allowing both nations to develop the shared resource as a single field while allocating benefits proportionally.
Source: Splash247
