(Trinidad Express) The Ministry of Energy has launched its 2013 Trinidad and Tobago Onshore Bid Round for oil and gas exploration.
It was formally launched on May 16.
The opening of the bid round was marked by the publishing in the Gazette of the Petroleum Regulations (Onshore Competitive Bidding) Order, 2013.
This marks the official start of the bidding for three exploration and production licences, the ministry said in a statement yesterday.
Approximately 150,000 acres of State lands in Trinidad’s Southern Basin are being offered.
These consist of the Rio Claro Block (74,954 acres), the Ortoire Block (44,731 acres) and the St Mary’s Block (37,760 acres).
“The bid acreage offers a range of opportunities related to block sizes, production potential and hydrocarbon play types. There is a wealth of well and seismic data that should reduce the risk and time of exploration, and the blocks are located in a proven commercial hydrocarbon province, within close proximity to existing infrastructure and producing fields. Trinidad and Tobago has been commercially producing oil from its land acreage since 1908,” the ministry stated.
The successful bidder(s) will be issued exploration and production licences and will also enter into a joint operating agreement (JOA) with State-owned oil company Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Petro-
trin). Petrotrin will also have a 20 per cent carry in all three blocks on offer, it added.
Trinidad and Tobago has its own oil refinery, which is owned and operated by Petrotrin. Its current throughput is in the region of 165,000 barrels per day. The 2013 Onshore Bid Round will close on August 30.
Minister of Energy Kevin Ramnarine said yesterday: “The 2013 onshore-based bid round is historic in that it is the first dedicated land-based bid round launched by the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs since the late 1990s. That bid round led to the Carapal Ridge discovery, which is now the Central Block, operated by BG.
“It is expected that there will be a high degree of interest in this latest onshore bid round from both companies already operating in Trinidad and Tobago, and new entrants.”
Details on the bid round and the bidding process can be found at the ministry’s website at www.energy.gov.tt or e-mail: tobr2013@energy.gov.tt.
