(Trinidad Express) Trinidad and Tobago is about to sign an agreement with Venezuela to begin exploiting hydrocarbon reserves located between the two countries.

Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan announced on Friday that she will be part of a delegation heading to Venezuela to meet with her energy counterpart and sign the agreement tomorrow. The agreement involves the framework treaty on unitisation of oil and gas reserves that extend across the delimitation line between this country and Venezuela.

“It’s a big accomplishment. I mean it’s going to be the first of its kind between Trinidad and Tobago and I think in this hemisphere as well, where you would have a cross border field.”

Speaking at the post-Cabinet press conference held at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, Seepersad-Bachan said the cross border field has been under discussion for almost 20 years.

The treaty is with regard to the Loran/Manatee natural gas field which is estimated to hold ten trillion cubic feet of gas.

Former prime minister Patrick Manning signed the framework agreement on the unitisation of oil and gas resources between the countries with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in March 2007.

Unitisation allows for the allocation of oil or gas reserves located in an area separated by borders.

Seepersad-Bachan said that as part of the unitisation agreement the countries agreed that 74 per cent of the unitised field would go to Venezuela and 26 per cent to Trinidad and Tobago because of the structure of the border.

She noted that this amounted to about 1.2 trillion cubic feet (tcf) for Trinidad and Tobago.