By Curtis Williams and Deisy Buitrago
HOUSTON/CARACAS (Reuters) -Venezuela is seeking location and other details from Trinidad and Tobago about the first field tests to be conducted by Exxon Mobil in an ultra-deepwater area it was recently awarded in the Caribbean country, according to two sources and a document seen by Reuters.
Venezuela’s Vice President and oil minister Delcy Rodriguez demanded information on Exxon’s plans, including if potential finds could extend into Venezuela’s territory. She relayed this in a meeting she called with the dual-island nation’s acting head of its mission to Caracas, Dayne-Marc Chin Slick, earlier this month, according to a diplomatic note he sent to Trinidad’s Foreign Minister.
Exxon was awarded the block earlier this year, marking its return to the dual-island Caribbean nation for oil and gas exploration activities. The block is near the maritime border with Venezuela and northwest of the prolific Stabroek block Exxon operates in nearby Guyana.
Venezuela on Monday suspended a wide energy pact with Trinidad, including several joint gas projects, after President Nicolas Maduro criticized what he called the country’s pro-U.S. stance amid ongoing military escalation in the region.
A similar standoff with Guyana in recent years led to the suspension of Exxon’s drilling in the north portion of the Stabroek block, which was declared in force majeure due to Exxon’s inability to complete exploration work there.
Rodriguez told Trinidad’s acting head of mission Chin Slick that, under Article 8 of a delimitation treaty on territorial borders, either country has to inform the other of any planned exploration as long as the area is within 500 meters (1,640 feet) of the border, according to the diplomatic note.
Trinidad and Venezuela sit just six miles (9.7 km) away at their closest point.
Trinidad is prepared to inform Venezuela about a seismic survey Exxon plans next year, but will not give further details about the work plan or say if there is potential for a discovery extending into Venezuela, since none has been made, the internal Trinidad government memo showed.
“The Government of Trinidad and Tobago is bound by confidentiality provisions and, as a consequence, specific and detailed information on Exxon Mobil’s operations for Block TTUD 1 cannot be disclosed,” the Foreign Ministry’s memo stated.
Exxon declined to comment. Trinidad’s energy ministry, and Venezuela’s information and oil ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Up until April, when Trinidad’s government changed, the two countries had close relations, with Caracas granting a license to Shell and Trinidad’s National Gas Company to develop the 4.2-trillion-cubic-foot Dragon gas field in Venezuelan waters.
Venezuela also agreed in 2020 not to object to Trinidad’s plans to develop its share of the 10 TCF Loran-Manatee gas field. About 73% of the reserves lie on the Venezuelan side of the border.
However, bilateral relations have become complicated since Trinidad’s new Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar arrived. Rodriguez said this week Trinidad’s attitude towards Venezuela was “hostile.”
(Reporting by Curtis Williams and Deisy Buitrago; Editing by Nathan Crooks and Richard Chang)
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