ExxonMobil and the government of Trinidad and Tobago have agreed terms under which the Caribbean nation will award seven ultra-deep exploration blocks to the U.S. supermajor, senior government officials familiar with the talks told Reuters on Tuesday.
The blocks are located east off Trinidad and Tobago and northwest of Guyana’s Stabroek offshore block, where Exxon is leading a consortium that has already found 11 billion barrels of oil equivalents, produces more than 660,000 barrels per day (bpd), and is exploring for more resources.
Earlier this year, Trinidad and Tobago and Exxon launched talks on the U.S. supermajor obtaining oil and gas exploration blocks in what would be a return to the Caribbean country for the oil giant after a 20-year hiatus.
Exxon quit Trinidad and Tobago in 2003 following an unsuccessful offshore exploration campaign.
Now the major discoveries offshore Guyana and Trinidad’s east coast proximity to the Stabroek block have prompted Exxon to discuss a return to exploration offshore Trinidad and Tobago.
“Ultra-deep Trinidad and Tobago could unlock potential similar to ExxonMobil’s Stabroek block,” Reuters quoted a 2024 study by Houston-based energy data analytics firm TGS as saying.
The Caribbean nation is the largest oil and gas producer in the region and ranks 17th 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.
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago’s neighbor Guyana has become the fifth-largest oil exporter in Latin America in less than a decade, output has grown from 400,000 bpd to over 660,000 bpd in a matter of months, and Exxon plans to boost output to 1.3 million bpd by 2030.
Exxon recently got itself a new partner in Guyana’s Stabroek block, after Chevron won the arbitration case against Exxon concerning its acquisition of Hess Corp. Its expansion in the region marks a natural development from the success in Guyana.
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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