BP confirms it is seeking OFAC license for Venezuela/Trinidad gas field

By Curtis Williams and Stephanie Kelly

HOUSTON/LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - BP BP.L is seeking a license from the U.S. government to develop its Manakin-Cocuina gas field that crosses the border between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela, its interim CEO Carol Howle told Reuters on Tuesday.

Since the capture by the U.S. of Venezuela's former President Nicolas Maduro, several energy companies have been seeking to move forward with their projects in the South American country including Shell SHEL.L with its Dragon and Manatee projects and BP with Manakin.

BP wants to develop the field to bring more than 1 trillion cubic feet of gas to Trinidad to convert into liquefied natural gas for export. BP owns 45% of Trinidad's flagship Atlantic LNG plants which was 15% of BPs total LNG production in 2025, data from financial firm LSEG show.

"Look, our interest is in the Manakin-Cocuina field, which is a cross border field between Trinidad and Venezuela. So we're working on obtaining the license for that, and that's really our priority at the moment," Howle said in a call with Reuters.

BP requires a license from the U.S. government to produce the field because of continued U.S. sanctions against Venezuela's state-owned company PDVSA, which operates on the Venezuela side of the border.

BP originally has an OFAC license from the U.S. and a license from Venezuela to develop the field but it was canceled by the Trump administration in 2025.

Trinidad has suffered from a shortage of natural gas to power its LNG and wider petrochemical sector. It wants to develop its cross-border fields with Venezuela that together hold 11 tcf in proven reserves.