Seismic work at offshore gas fields shared by Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago is expected to start in the coming days, the Caribbean country's energy minister Stuart Young said on Friday on social media.
Venezuela in July issued a 20-year license allowing the development of its side of the reservoir, the Cocuina field. The U.S. earlier this year also authorized the project, to be developed by Britain's BP and Trinidad's National Gas Company.
The Cocuina and Manakin fields, whose Venezuelan portion belongs to the idled offshore gas project Plataforma Deltana, has 1 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves.
The vessel PXGEO2 and two supporting ships are scheduled to conduct a 3D seismic survey next month at a portion of the Manakin field, Young said on X, quoting a marine advisory notice from BP.
Venezuela, whose gas reserves are mostly untapped, has in recent years expanded offers for offshore gas projects to foreign companies, but progress remains slow amid U.S. sanctions and a massive need for investment.
However preparations for a separate offshore gas project with Trinidad, the 4-tcf Dragon gas field to be operated by Shell and NGC, have progressed this year, aiming to deliver first output in late 2025.
(Reuters - Reporting by Vivian Sequera and Marianna Parraga; Editing by Gary McWilliams and Jan Harvey)