PRIME MINISTER of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar will welcome Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros this week.
The visit follows an invitation that was extended by Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar during the III CELAC Summit in Costa Rica at the end of last month.
One of the important aspects of President Maduro’s visit is the re-affirmation of a commitment to bilateral cooperation on energy matters of interest to both countries. Since coming into office in 2010, Persad-Bissessar and the People’s Partnership Government actively sought to move discussions forward on the exploitation and development of the hydrocarbon resources located in several fields which cross the maritime delimitation line between the two nations. These include the Loran-Manatee, Cocuina-Manakin and Kapok-Dorado fields.
It is estimated that approximately ten trillion cubic feet of gas lies in the Loran-Manatee field of which about 7.3 trillion cubic feet lies in Venezuela, and the remainder in Trinidad and Tobago. Bilateral collaboration on the development of these resources is expected to yield considerable socio-economic benefits to both countries.
President Maduro last visited Trinidad and Tobago, as a special guest at the CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting, in July 2013. (PR)
