Trinidad and Tobago's Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries has issued a call for bids on nine deepwater blocks in the Atlantic Ocean to the east and northeast of the main island.
This is the first time that the Caribbean republic has sought offers for deepwater blocks. International oil companies are currently exploring and producing oil and gas in shallower waters around Trinidad and Tobago.
The offer entails production-sharing contracts. Bids are due at the ministry by Jan. 31, 1997.
The blocks being offered cover more than 3.7 million acres and lie more than 50 miles offshore. Water depths range 750-1,750 m, the ministry said.
Information packets are on sale, and the entire deepwater data set costs $200,000. Bids must be accompanied by a $25,000 application fee. The tracts are Blocks 23a, b, and c; Blocks 24 a and b; Blocks 25 a and b; Block 26; and Block 27. Block 23b, at 534,329 acres, is the largest, while Block 27, at 291,282 acres, is the smallest.
The ministry said several international oil companies have expressed interest in the blocks but declined to provide any names. Among the companies currently exploring or producing in Trinidad and Tobago are: Amoco Corp.; a combine of BHP Petroleum Pty. Ltd. and Elf Aquitaine; British Gas plc; Enron Corp.; Texaco Inc.; and state-owned integrated oil firm Petrotrin and integrated gas firm National Gas Co. The government said bidders will have the option to invite Petrotrin to be a partner.
Trinidad and Tobago, which currently produces about 133,000 b/d of crude and condensate, has seen a significant rise in exploration for oil and gas in recent years. Amoco, for example, will invest heavily in order to ensure supplies of as much as 475 MMcfd of natural gas for a $1 billion LNG project on which major construction will begin later this year.
Trinidad and Tobago has also been the target of large-scale foreign investments in industries related to natural gas, such as ammonia and methanol.
Copyright 1996 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
![Where Trinidad and Tobago is offering deepwater acerage [75759 bytes]](http://images.pennwellnet.com/ogj/images/ogj/9441jntr.gif){kind=link}