CARACAS, Thursday February 16, 2006 | Update
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.
04:20 PM. Western Hemisphere. Colombian President Álvaro Uribe said on Tuesday that governments should ensure citizens' rights to live on the border, in reference to a political and diplomatic crisis with Venezuela and its effects on border residents.