With 26 offshore deepwater blocks up for grabs, the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries received four bids at the conclusion of the 2025 Deepwater Competitive Bid Round — all from two relatively new entrants to Trinidad and Tobago’s energy market, hailing from China and Nigeria.
The 2025 Deep Water Competitive Bid Round, a process that started way back in January 2025, concluded at 12pm on Wednesday September 17th, with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) submitting three bids, and another new player to the T&T energy industry, Nigeria’s STIT Energy Ltd/Groundports Consortium, submitting one bid.
According to Minister in the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Ernesto Kesar, one of the key goals of the recent bid round was to encourage new participants in Trinidad and Tobago’s upstream sector, and this aim has been successfully achieved.
Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, he said he is pleased with the fresh interest in the hydrocarbon environment.
“We are aware of CNOOC and their global footprint, and this STIT and Groundport Consortium, we are also very pleased to see the African companies looking at our ultra-deep and deep water basin with great anticipation.”
The Minister also addressed the high costs and technical challenges of deepwater exploration, noting that only a handful of companies globally are equipped to operate at such depths.
“There are only this amount of companies in the world that explore those depths of water. So in that regard, I can say with confidence that it was successful, because you have one company having bid for three blocks, and then another company for one. So that, again, I am very encouraged.”
In the last Deepwater Bid Round in 2021, four bids were also received — three from BP Exploration Operating Company, and one from BG International Ltd.
Looking ahead, Minister Kesar said the Government plans to review fiscal incentives and improve seismic data to attract more investment in future rounds.
“This will be undertaken as a matter of urgency. We also propose to continue engaging with our multi-client partners to improve on our 3D seismic data through the acquisition and reprocessing, thereby enhancing the technical understanding of the deepwater exploration areas.”
The Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Marc Rudder clarified that two ultra-deep blocks had already been awarded to ExxonMobil through out-of-bid negotiations.
“Seven blocks in the ultra-deep area, those are Blocks TTDAA17 to 23, now comprising Block TTUD1, were not included in this Bid Round due to the successful out-of-bid round negotiations with ExxonMobil, resulting in the execution of a production sharing contract with ExxonMobil for this block.”
The 2025 Deepwater Bid Round, with 26 blocks, represents the largest number of blocks on offer in recent competitive bidding history.