Desperate to arrest the decline of its domestic gas supplies, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Keith Rowley has announced that he will be taking a two pronged approach to boost production capacity.
During today’s opening of Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Conference which was held in person and virtually at the Hyatt Hotel, Dr. Rowley explained that he will be accelerating bid rounds for deepwater and onshore blocks as well as pursuing the exploration for oil and gas in shared borders with certain territories.
The Prime Minister explained that his homeland has embarked on a series of bid rounds which commenced with the deep-water bid-round in December of last year. The closing ceremony for this bid round will be held on Thursday June 2nd , 2022. On offer is a large selection of deep water acreage comprising 17 blocks.
The Prime Minister was keen to note that Trinidad and Tobago is not a singular actor in this regard as several countries are actively promoting bid-rounds at this time. “So we know that we are competing for exploration capital,” the CARICOM leader added. Expounding further, he noted that seven licensing rounds were closed by the first quarter 2022 and another eight licensing rounds that are open are expected to close by the end of 2022.
Regionally, Dr. Rowley said Suriname, Colombia and Brazil closed successful bid-rounds while adding that upcoming 2022 bid-rounds comprise Guyana’s deep-water blocks, Brazil sub-salt blocks and Ecuador oil blocks.
For TT’s part, the Prime Minister said, “Our series of bid-rounds continues with the onshore bid-round. In September 2021 the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries invited nominations for Onshore Acreage for Competitive Bidding. Eleven blocks were nominated. Based on the responses, the Ministry plans to launch the Onshore Competitive Bid Round within this quarter. The offshore shallow water bid-round will be next.”
In total, there are 25 open shallow water blocks for consideration. Guyana Standard understands that a date for the launch has not yet been determined.
Along with the bid rounds, PM Rowley said TT executed several unitization agreements with the governments of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Barbados and Grenada, which will allow for the exploration of hydrocarbon resources in the maritime boundaries shared with these countries.
The CARICOM leader said the foregoing actions will prove that TT is ready to move beyond the mere intent to co-operate and aggressively pursue opportunities that utilize its extensive expertise and experience in the energy sector.
