Venezuela granted a license for a long time to British energy company BP and the state-owned National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago to develop Venezuela's side of a large gas field which extends into Caribbean waters.

There are approximately 1 trillion cubic feet in proven reserves of gas at the Cocuina-Manakin gas field. This field is located on Venezuela's coast and is part of Plataforma Delapana, a vast offshore gas project that remains inactive.

The Companies

Negotiations can be accelerated

Sources said that they had been in contact with the Venezuelan government and the state energy company PDVSA to get the license signed in recent weeks before the presidential election on July 28.

"We have made a giant step in the direction of progress," declared President Nicolas Maduro at the signing ceremony broadcast on state television station VTV.

Stuart Young, Trinidad's Energy Minister, and Venezuelan Oil Minister Pedro Tellechea signed several documents that govern the project.

The U.S. Treasury Department issued a license in May authorizing the project's progress, despite energy restrictions on Venezuela. (Reporting and writing by Deisy Btrago and Vivian Sequera, Marianna Parra; editing by Leslie Adler).