The Trinidad and Tobago government has announced it will be having a competitive bid round in the first quarter of 2017 that is likely to have a mix of deepwater and near-shore blocks.
This is the first time in 4 years that the Caribbean twin-island nation will be having a bid round. Between 2011 and 2013 there were three deepwater bid rounds in which nine blocks were awarded with Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd. winning seven of the nine blocks and farming into the two blocks that were won by BP PLC.
Since then it has drilled the first deepwater well, which encountered gas in several zones.
The country’s Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre told OGJ that the bid round was necessary to increase upstream activity.
“Looking to the future, government recognizes the critical importance of the upstream energy sector in addressing the current shortfalls in oil and gas production,” Olivierre said. Olivierre said the island nation is reviewing the results of the data collected from the deepwater seismic survey conducted by BHP Billiton in 2015 to determine the prospective areas for future Deepwater Competitive Bid Rounds.
She also added that the country is likely to put out and those relinquished by Niko Resources Ltd. as part of the shallow-water blocks on offer.
The minister told OGJ that proposals for an Onshore Competitive Bid Round were examined during 2016 but was considered not viable based on current commodity prices.
However, the minister noted that an Onshore Competitive Bid Rounds may be considered in the near future once oil prices recover.
Trinidad and Tobago produces an 75,000 b/d of oil and 3.5 bcfd of gas.
