MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

BP, Shell and Gulf partners return to Venezuelan gas on the Trinidad and Tobago border

The agreements remain subject to the definitive licence, to the relevant governmental and regulatory approvals and to compliance with international sanctions rules

Venezuela's government has concluded a series of agreements with international oil companies in recent weeks to develop its offshore gas fields, marking a shift from the years of isolation and sanctions that have defined the sector.

On August 13, BP was granted an exploration and production licence in Caracas for the second phase of the Loran field, in the Plataforma Deltana, alongside the UAE's XRG — the international investment arm of ADNOC — and the oil and gas unit of Qatar's UCC Holding. The three companies hold equal working interests and BP will operate the development. The licence carries rights to up to 4 trillion cubic feet of gas; the field's total reserves are estimated at 7.3. The signing was broadcast on state television before acting president Delcy Rodríguez and BP chief executive Meg O'Neill.

The first phase was awarded to Shell in June and both will be developed in parallel. Loran extends into the Manatee field, operated by Shell on the Trinidad and Tobago side, where the company has already begun development and expects first gas next year. Together the two fields hold around 10 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, which is expected to be industrialised and converted into liquefied natural gas on Trinidadian territory.

The agreements remain subject to the definitive licence, to the relevant governmental and regulatory approvals and to compliance with international sanctions rules, as the companies themselves cautioned.

In oil, Caracas announced production participation contracts with US firms Hunt Oil and Crossover — the first under the hydrocarbons law reformed at the end of January, which widens the scope for private investment — and a framework alliance with contractor SLB. Some estimates put the associated investment at around 2 billion dollars.

Until now, foreign presence had been limited largely to Chevron, Spain's Repsol and Italy's Eni. Hydrocarbons Minister Paula Henao took part this week in a forum on investment in Venezuela held in Houston before the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

“What is genuinely important in terms of international investment is happening in gas,” said oil economist Francisco Monaldi, who noted that the gas law provides for lower royalties and that installed capacity already exists on the Venezuelan side. He described the oil picture as less clear, with contracts that in his view leave wide discretion to the state.

Venezuela produces slightly more than 1.2 million barrels a day, against three million in earlier decades. Alejandro Grisanti, of the consultancy Ecoanalítica, projects annual increases of around 200,000 barrels a day, though he ties any recovery to the political outcome: without a transition involving elections, he calculates a ceiling of 2.5 million barrels a day. ECLAC forecasts economic growth of around 6.5% for 2026.