Petroleum disappointment in T&T as only 4 of 17 deep water blocks picked up
(Trinidad Guardian) There has been a poor response to the 2022 T&T deepwater bid round with only four of the 17 blocks receiving bids and those were single bids by a consortium of bpTT and Royal Dutch Shell.
It was a disappointing end to the six month process and the first deep-water bid round in close to a decade.
The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries had offered 17 blocks in the deep-water bid round and three quarter of the blocks went without a single bid.
Interestingly BHP, now Woodside Petroleum, showed no interest in the deepwater blocks having acquired extensive seismic in T&T’s deep-water and making natural gas discoveries.
This latest disappointment comes as the Government failed to deliver a deep-water bid round, almost eight years since it came to power, and the last bid round in which bpTT and Shell were joint venture partners and sole bidders have not seen an award made because the bids were considered too unworkable by the Ministry of Energy. There were bids were on Blocks 25(a) 25(b) 23 and 27 deep-water blocks .
Claire Fitzpatrick, Regional President of bpTT, explained to members of the media the reason behind the consortium.
“It’s actually relatively simple. When you look at some of these deep-water projects, they come with risks and they are quite expensive therefore, it’s perfectly normal that you actually end up doing things in a consortium. And given that both bp and Shell have got strong, incumbent positions here and we both bring the skills to actually progress in deep-water projects it made perfect sense for the two of us to actually come together, and actually bid as a consortium,” Fitzpatrick said.
Stéphane Picarle, General Manager, Commercial Shell T&T Ltd said the company was also delighted to bid with bp, noting that joining forces could be beneficial in deep-water exploration.
He added that the bid also demonstrated the company’s commitment to T&T’s energy future and by extension, its citizens.