bp is still interested in cross-border opportunities with Venezuela, despite the Caracas government suspending all bilateral energy agreements with Trinidad and Tobago last year, the UK energy major’s country head, David Campbell, said at an energy conference held in Port of Spain.
Both Shell and bp had been granted licenses by the US and Venezuela to develop offshore natural gas projects at the maritime border, which contains huge reserves.
"There is an industrial logic that says there are resources across the border where people are perhaps more cautious to invest, right next to our underutilised assets like Atlantic LNG and Point Lisas," Campbell said.
"It is an obvious project to have," he added in reference to Cocuina-Manakin, the gas project bp and Venezuela's state-run PDVSA had been planning.
Cocuina-Manakin contains gas deposits that extend across both countries, thus joint development is needed to begin production, after the exploration phase was completed several years ago.
About 10% of all of bp's capital spending worldwide went to energy projects in Trinidad last year, Campbell revealed during the conference.
