BP Sells Stake in Cocuina-Manakin Field to Trinidad's National Gas Company

BP has agreed to sell a 20% stake in the Manakin portion of the cross-border Cocuina-Manakin natural gas field to Trinidad's state-owned National Gas Company (NGC). The deal comes less than four months after Venezuela granted BP a license to develop the Cocuina section of the field, which is part of the undeveloped Deltana Platform gas project.

The Cocuina-Manakin field contains 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves and straddles the maritime boundary between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. NGC already holds a 20% stake in the Cocuina portion on the Venezuelan side, but wanted to acquire an equivalent stake in the Trinidad portion to ensure control over the project.

NGC Chairman Gerald Ramdeen explained that the company's strategy is to obtain stakes in upstream gas projects to become a producer of gas and sell it at a reasonable price. BP and NGC have agreed to market 70% of the project's gas to Atlantic LNG, which operates Latin America's largest liquefied natural gas export facility.

The complex has struggled due to declining domestic natural gas supplies in Trinidad, forcing the closure of one of its four trains. Development at Cocuina-Manakin is progressing towards a final investment decision, expected by the end of the year, and the remaining 30% of produced natural gas will be used in petrochemicals.