May 27 (Reuters) - Oil major BP and U.S. shale

producer EOG Resources ( EOG ) are in discussions to jointly

develop a natural gas field off the coast of Trinidad and

Tobago, the British company said.

The field holds just under 1 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of

natural gas, but will eventually be tied back to another BP

discovery, bringing the area to be developed closer to 1.5 tcf

of gas, two people with knowledge of the project told Reuters.

First gas is expected in late 2026 and is planned to feed

Trinidad's flagship liquefied natural gas (LNG) project,

Atlantic LNG, in which BP and Shell each have equity

stakes of 45%.

Trinidad and Tobago is Latin America's largest exporter of

the superchilled gas and the world's second-largest exporter of

methanol and ammonia.

Output from Atlantic LNG represents a large part of BP's

total LNG portfolio, but its operations have been hampered by

declining natural gas production from aging fields.

A spokesperson for BP's Trinidad and Tobago unit said the

company is "in active negotiation with EOG Resources Trinidad

for the formation of a joint venture" to develop BP's Coconut

field.

EOG would be the operator of the project, the people said,

which is similar to an arrangement it has with BP for the Mento

project, which is a tie-back to EOG's Pelican platform.

EOG declined to comment on the proposed joint venture.

BP's Trinidad and Tobago president, David Campbell, told

Reuters in January that BP's future in Trinidad was in the deep

water, where the firm believes it can make larger discoveries

and where it is trying to develop with Woodside Energy ( WDS )

the Calypso gas discovery.

BP is working with EOG to progress regulatory approvals and

reach commercial agreements, the company said of the Coconut

joint venture.