The judicial verdict followed reports of a prospective joint venture featuring PDVSA, Trinidad and Tobago's National Gas Company (NGC) and BP to exploit offshore natural gas reserves in the Cocuina-Manakin fields shared between the two neighboring countries' territorial waters. BP and NGC received a two-year license from the US Treasury Department to negotiate with their Venezuelan counterpart. While the firms are not under Washington's jurisdiction, most actors request the US' green light out of fear of being targeted with secondary sanctions. The Cocuina-Manakin fields contain an estimated 1 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas. Caracas has recently prioritized natural gas cooperation with its island neighbor, a major hub for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Caribbean and European destinations, in a bid to secure income sources amidst wide-reaching US sanctions.