Exxon has sealed a deal with the Trinidad and Tobago government for deepwater exploration that could involve investments of $21.7 billion, according to the Caribbean nation’s energy minister.
“What we are awarding today is larger than the surface area of the country,” Roodal Moonilat said as he broke the news of the new deal, saying the area that Exxon will explore was the size of seven normal offshore blocks.
Said area lies northwest of the Stabroek block—the offshore Guyana block that Exxon has been developing since 2005, with the first production well drilled in 2015. Since the start of exploration, Exxon has tapped an estimated 11 billion barrels in reserves and production has grown rapidly, turning Guyana into a rare hot spot in the world of oil. Plans are to pump 1.7 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2030. To date, production runs at 900,000 barrels daily.
Due to its proximity to the Guyana oil bounty, Trinidad and Tobago made a logical choice for Exxon. The supermajor had a presence in the Caribbean country until 2003, when it announced it would quit, following an unsuccessful exploration campaign.
Despite that failure, Trinidad and Tobago is the largest oil and gas producer in the Caribbean and the 17th largest in the world. Its oil and gas industry is seen growing at a compound annual rate of 4.4% over the decade to 2030, with companies involved in that growth including BP, Shell, and Spain’s Repsol—and now Exxon, which very much hopes to replicate its Guyana story in Trinidad.
The new exploration campaign will begin with an investment of $42 million and the drilling of two wells, the first of which could be drilled in six months, once the company finishes with its seismic survey of the area. If that is successful, development could be even faster than it was in Guyana, Reuters noted in a report on the news.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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