April 19, 2005
Energy ministers from Trinidad and Venezuela discuss joint natural gas offshore projects

(BNamericas.com) - 'Venezuela needs the U.S., the U.S. needs Venezuela,' said Hill. 'Despite the rhetoric and the words that come from Venezuela, there's a strong desire there to do business, as long as they're getting their share. (.)'

Venezuela's energy and oil minister and state oil firm PDVSA president Rafael Ramírez met with Trinidad and Tobago's energy minister Eric Williams on Monday in Caracas to promote joint offshore natural gas E&P projects, PDVSA said in a statement.

'One of the short-term plans consists in the joint construction of platforms for offshore operations,' Williams was quoted as saying. PDVSA and Trinidad's state oil company Petrotrin will set up a commission to study such offshore projects, Williams said.

The alliance 'is an excellent opportunity to learn from the vast experience that the Caribbean country has in the area of exploration and production of offshore gas,' Ramírez said.

A number of offshore Venezuelan natural gas projects are located close to Trinidadian waters in the northeast, including the Mariscal Sucre, Deltana and Gulf of Paria projects currently under development.

Venezuela also recently called for bids on six offshore blocks in the western Gulf of Venezuela as part of its Rafael Urdaneta project.

Increasing natural gas exploration is one of the main tenets of President Hugo Chávez's energy policy. Venezuela is seeking to use the gas for everything from secondary crude recovery to refining and electric power generation.

The agreement with Trinidad is part of Venezuela's Petrocaribe initiative to increase refining capacity and to market its fuels and lubricants in the Caribbean region, Ramírez said".