Worldwide Energy News - Article

This article is extracted from International Oil Letter, Vol 22 issue 51 published 25 December 2006.

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Trinidad's ultra-deepwater bid round attracts just one bid

The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries received just one bid from Statoil for Block 5 in the ultra-deepwater bid round just concluded, where eight blocks were offered for licensing. Companies that participated in the bid round were: Anadarko (Kerr McGee), BG, BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron, Eni, EOG Resources, Hess, Repsol-YPF, Shell, Talisman and Total. This was the most unsuccessful bid round in Trinidad & Tobago since the introduction of Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) in February 1995. The reason for the dismal participation in the bid round is attributed to the new terms and conditions of the PSCs. The Ministry of Energy has increased its take of the revenues and the amount of taxes the oil companies have to pay under the new PSC terms. The bid round was finally launched in May 2006 with an original deadline of 30 October 2006, but extended to mid-December. Delays due to boundary claims by Barbados had plagued the bid round since 2004. On offer were eight blocks of 800 sq km each located east of the island of Trinidad, east of the deepwater blocks 25(a), 25(b), 26 and 27 in water depths ranging from 1,700m to 2,500m.

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