Contracts signed for five onshore blocks

CONTRACTS for five onshore blocks in southern Trinidad were signed between oil and gas companies and the Ministry of Finance in a signing ceremony for exploration and production licences on June 21.

The licences were awarded from bids on the 2022 onshore and nearshore competitive bid round, which saw 16 bids on 11 blocks in central and southern Trinidad.

“The oil and gas sector continues to be a major contributor to the economic and social development of Trinidad and Tobago,” Young said in his keynote address at the ceremony at the Ministry of Energy’s offices at the Waterfront in Port of Spain.

“It is a major revenue earner, a major foreign-exchange source and also a key contributor to domestic downstream activity. It is imperative that we continue to foster investor participation toward maintaining a vibrant upstream sector.”

The 2022 onshore and nearshore competitive bid round was opened on July 8 and remained opened for six months, until January 9.

The companies were given six months to submit a bid on any 11 blocks. The proposals were reviewed by a technical evaluation committee and an overview committee comprising of representatives from the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs.

The reports and recommendations from the committees were then approved by Cabinet.

NABI Construction Ltd and Heritage Petroleum Co Ltd were awarded the Aripero block; Oilbelt Services Ltd and Heritage Petroleum Co Ltd were awarded the Buenos Ayres block; A&V Oil and Gas Ltd and Heritage Petroleum Co Ltd were awarded the St Mary’s block and Primera Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of Touchstone Exploration and NGC E&P Investments Ltd were awarded the Cipero and Charuma blocks.

Speaking to the media after the signing, Young said he wanted to get production from the blocks as quickly as possible.

“We are a mature province which means it is becoming more and more difficult to find those pockets of hydrocarbons but we’ve seen here five blocks being signed for so we will be really pressing them to get in the ground, drill as quickly as possible,” he said.

He said more than 20 wells are expected to be drilled in the not too distant future.