PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC -The Trinidad and Tobago government said it expects successful bids to be announced within three months following Wednesday’s closing ceremony of the 2025 deep water competitive bidding round.
A government statement said that the 2025 bidding round closed earlier on Wednesday and that a total of four bids were received for four blocks. Three of these bids came from CNOOC Limited, the largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas in China, and one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies.
The other is the US based STIT Energy Limited/Groundports Consortium.
Minister in the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Ernesto Kesar, addressing the ceremony, stated that Trinidad and Tobago’s deepwater has been largely unexplored.
“In the limited exploration, there has been the discovery of hydrocarbons, in particular natural gas. There has been evidence of the existence of trapped and potentially producible accumulation of hydrocarbons, through oil shows in some explored blocks.”
He said this year, in addition to Trinidad and Tobago, 20 countries have launched bid rounds, and others have indicated their intention to do so in the near future.
“In the Latin American and Caribbean region, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay launched bid rounds, and both Guyana and Suriname have signaled their intentions to launch bid rounds in the future. This means that we are not the only game in town, in an industry that a few major oil and gas companies dominate. We, therefore, are realistic in our expectations.”
Kesar said that in all, nine companies requested data packages, with the majority having deepwater experience.
“To those companies that submitted bids, we appreciate your confidence in our deepwater hydrocarbon resources and assure you that we will expeditiously review bids. We look forward to successfully finalizing production sharing contracts with you for the blocks on which we bid,” he said.
The Junior Minister stated that the next step is the commencement of a comprehensive and transparent evaluation process, as outlined in the Competitive Bidding Order 2025, contained in Legal Notice No. 20 of January 27, 2025.
He said that a Technical Evaluation Committee will review the bid proposals, and an Overview Committee established by the Cabinet and comprised of representatives of the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, the Ministry of Finance, and the Office of the Attorney General.
Kaser stated that the reports and recommendations of these committees will then be submitted to the Cabinet for approval.
“Successful bids shall be announced within three months from today. The successful bidder shall be issued a production sharing contract for a period not exceeding ten years initially, covering the block. Still, upon the achievement of a commercial discovery, it may be renewed, as to a part only of the contract area, for a term of 25 years from the effective date of the production sharing contract.”
In January of this year, the government invited bids for 26 deepwater blocks in the Eastern Marine Area of Trinidad, an area that cumulatively covers 28,177 square kilometers.
Kaser said the deepwater acreage on offer is divided into two central regions that define the structural and stratigraphic framework.
He said the northern region, which comprises the Tobago Basin, Barbados Ridge, and the Barbados Basin, and the eastern region, comprising the Barbados Accretionary Prism, which is subdivided into three zones—the Zone of Supra-Complex Basins, the Zone of Stabilization, and the Zone of Accretion.
The Junior Minister said that the deepwater acreage is covered by a mix of modern and vintage seismic datasets, with approximately 50 percent of the blocks having 3D seismic coverage.
“This concentration is in the Eastern Blocks as compared to the northwestern deepwater blocks, which are covered by vintage 2D. To upgrade these areas, the Ministry has signed a multi-client agreement with Searcher Geodata UK Ltd. to acquire 7,114 square kilometers of new 3D data in the Tobago Trough. This will give 3D coverage to blocks now covered only by 2D,” he added.
He said that information on 68 wells was included in the 2025 Deep Water Bid Round data package that also contained key reports such as biostratigraphy, geochemistry, and fluid analysis that can assist with understanding the paleoenvironment, well correlation, source rock quality, and the overall hydrocarbon potential.
“The well logs also assisted with evaluating reservoir parameters such as porosity, permeability, and fluid saturations. These wells enabled bidders to refine their regional stratigraphic frameworks and enhance their overall geological understanding of Trinidad and Tobago.
“The deepwater area is currently the most important domain for global oil and gas exploration and discovery, with the most discoveries and reserves in passive continental margin basins. The deepwater discoveries have had the greatest contribution to the total newly discovered oil and gas reserves in the marine areas, with an increasing number of lithological reservoirs discovered,” Kaser told the ceremony.
He stated that deepwater exploration has the potential to discover significant and high-quality reservoirs, and is estimated to hold approximately 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas reserves.
“Deepwater exploration is costly. However, advances in technology have made deepwater exploration feasible and viable. Companies, therefore, are prepared to take the risk, as the rewards are great, and there remains a growing energy demand from emerging economies and industrialized nations.
The deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploration and production market is experiencing robust growth, driven by the global population’s increasing demand for energy, as well as urbanization and industrialization in emerging economies. The market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.87 per cent from 2020 to 2030, reaching a staggering US$96.27 billion by the end of 2030.”
Kaser said that global deepwater spending by major international oil producers is forecast to grow to an average of US$79 billion in 2026 and 2027, a 20 percent increase from the average annual amount between 2023 and 2025.
“It’s a marked turnaround from the early days when the drilling technology did not fully exploit the potential of deepwater resources, or the Deepwater Horizon incident, which exposed the vulnerabilities of deepwater drilling, and back-to-back oil busts, crushed demand, and cash flow.”
Kaser said petroleum economies are seeking to capitalise on the turnaround by promoting deepwater oil and gas exploration as a means to increase their energy reserves, production, and energy security.
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