According to five people familiar with the talks, Venezuela has begun contacting energy corporations involved in a long-stalled offshore gas project to pressure them to start new exploration and operations along its maritime border with Guyana.
The proposal to act on blocks that have not been touched in over a decade comes amid an intensifying territorial dispute with Guyana, which has shook the country and prompted an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro wants the national oil company PDVSA, as well as the oil majors BP BP.L, Chevron CVX.N, and Shell SHEL.L, to resurrect an offshore project with 8 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.
The discoveries, known as Plataforma Deltana, were never developed due to a lack of cash, an unfinished sharing effort with Trinidad and Tobago, into whose waters the field extends, and a lack of defined investment laws.
Both governments authorised Shell to develop Trinidad’s portion of the largest reservoir, known as Manatee, in 2019, with a final investment decision likely next year and gas production beginning in 2028.
Maduro recently reversed his decision, telling Trinidad’s government in public comments in September that the fields should be developed collaboratively. His government and PDVSA began approaching firms to gauge their interest.
Chevron was the sole company to finish exploration in Plataforma Deltana, certifying 7.3 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of recoverable gas and announcing the commercialization of two of Venezuela’s five blocks in 2010. It never took any moves to start production.
Rosneft ROSN.MM of Russia examined another block in recent years but did not complete operations in the area, while TotalEnergies TTEF.PA and Equinor EQNR.OL returned one block to Venezuela following a non-commercial discovery. One of the five blocks was never given out.
“They’re talking about working on the most advanced blocks, which are 2 and 4,” one of the people stated.
On the Trinidad side, those two blocks connect to Shell’s Manatee project and BP’s Manakin shallow water block, both of which are in the development and production design stages.
According to another source familiar with the situation, BP and Trinidad’s government aim to begin negotiations with Venezuela to jointly produce gas at Manakin once discussions for Manatee are completed.
Chevron has been in talks with Venezuela concerning its licence, according to two of the persons.
Venezuela also made preliminary contact with Melbana Energy MAY.AX of Australia, which operates in Cuba. According to one of the sources, the discussions could lead to a seismic contract for the less investigated blocks.
The oil ministry of Venezuela, the energy ministry of Trinidad, PDVSA, and Melbana did not respond to demands for comment.
BP told Reuters that the Manakin field is a crucial element of its future region growth plan, despite its inability to progress work there.
“Since the temporary lifting of sanctions by the U.S. government, BP has been in early talks with the Trinidad and Tobago government assessing the opportunity to recommence development planning,” a representative for BP stated.
Chevron did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shell has refused to comment.
THREE INTEREST
Plataforma Deltana is Venezuela’s closest energy project to the seas in issue with Guyana. Both countries have established maritime border lines that intersect offshore oil and gas areas in the claimed territory of the other.
According to Maduro’s government, the north portion of the Stabroek block, a vast region under development by Exxon Mobil XOM.N, CNOOC 0883.HK, and Hess HES.N under licence from Guyana, stretches into Venezuelan waters. One of the parcels on Plataforma Deltana extends into Guyana’s claimed waters.
According to Antero Alvarado, managing partner of consultancy Gas Energy Latin America, Venezuela’s oil ministry and PDVSA have been working since 2016 to outsource 2D seismic data collection and map areas including the Esequibo and Isla de Aves territories in the Caribbean, which are in dispute with Guyana and Dominica, respectively.
“Venezuela hasn’t finished seismic work in a long time.” The need of doing so now stems from the issue with Guyana and the country’s newfound interest in exporting gas to markets such as Trinidad’, he said.
The territorial issue with Guyana is being debated before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered Venezuela earlier this month to desist from taking any action that would alter the situation with its neighbour. That happened after Maduro’s government sponsored a poll on whether Venezuelans accepted the ICJ’s jurisdiction over the issue. They did not do so.
Maduro indicated this week that he will allow oil and mining development in disputed areas with Guyana, but he did not specify the locations or enterprises. PDVSA and CVG, the state industrial conglomerate, were required to establish specific departments for this purpose.
Guyana’s President, Irfaan Ali, stated last week that Maduro’s activities were in flagrant violation of ICJ orders and posed an imminent threat to the country’s territorial integrity.
