Venezuela issues natural gas permit to Britain's Shell

CARACAS, June 12 (AFP): Venezuela on Thursday granted British oil giant Shell a license to explore and export natural gas, as it joins the ranks of multinational companies rushing to tap the country's vast oil and gas reserves.

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez opened the sector to foreign investment in January, pushing a reform law through Venezuela's legislature under pressure from Washington following its capture of former president Nicolas Maduro in a US military operation.

Rodriguez said Shell will develop the Loran field, which had been abandoned for 23 years, and comprises seven natural gas deposits, six of them straddling the maritime border with Trinidad and Tobago.

She said the project would allow Venezuela "to take a very important step forward in its gas development and also as a gas exporter."