Trinidad and Venezuela are holding talks on how to divide submarine gas reservoirs US firm Chevron intends to exploit, official sources told AP.

Trinidad Premier Patrick Manning disclosed the negotiations in a joint news conference with Chevron CEO David O'Reilly, who claimed that the cooperation of the two countries is needed to extract gas from the reservoirs of Manatee and Loran in the southern Caribbean Sea.

"We need both the commitment of the two governments and clear conditions for exploitation," O'Reilly stated. Reservoirs "can be exploited for the mutual benefit of the two countries."

Manning would not set a date for talks with President Hugo Chávez' government. Previous negotiations were left in limbo, when Venezuelan announced the organization of Petrocaribe, a Chávez initiative intended to provide Caribbean countries with oil at preferential prices. Trinidad has always been an energy supplier of Caribbean countries.