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T&T eyeing more revenues for auctioned blocks – PM Rowley
By: Kiana Wilburg and Davina Bagot reporting from Trinidad and Tobago
Kaieteur News – Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Keith Rowley, on Monday announced that the evaluation of bids received for its most recent gas blocks auction will be disclosed in three months’ time.
More importantly, he noted that the twin island will be pursuing improved fiscal terms during the negotiations process. Trinidad, with over 100 years of oil production expertise, is among other things, well known for its stance on just fiscal terms for its people. At the opening of the nation’s three-day Energy Conference hosted at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain on Monday, Rowley announced, “Government intends to maintain the momentum of upstream exploration through improved fiscal incentives and the availability of acreage both on land and offshore. Accordingly, we will continue the dialogue with upstream companies on the incentives required to stimulate activity for the exploration of upstream resources.”
During his address to participants at the 2022 Energy Conference, Rowley had said that T&T would be pursuing an aggressive bid-round programme for the exploration of its hydrocarbon resources. This programme was initiated with a deep-water bid-round, in which four bids were received by a consortium of BP and Shell. These bids are currently the subject of negotiations between the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries and the Consortium.
Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley addressing the T&T Energy Conference
The deep-water bid-round was followed by the 2022 Onshore and Nearshore Competitive Bid Round which opened on July 8, 2022 and closed on January 9, 2023. The nation received 16 bids for eight of the 11 blocks that were offered. “It is the most successful Onshore/Nearshore Bid-Round to date surpassing the Onshore/Nearshore Element of the 2005/2006 Bid Round in which eight bids were submitted for six of the eight blocks offered,” The Prime Minister pointed out.
The success of the recent bid-round, according to him, is a testimony to policies introduced by his Government, including constant engagement with stakeholders to encourage upstream investment both onshore and offshore and the confidence of industry participants in the geological prospects of the Trinidad and Tobago provenance.
The team from the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, led by subject Minister, Stuart Young, is presently evaluating the bids. These results are scheduled to be announced in three months.
This bid round will be followed by a shallow-water bid-round slated to be opened at the end of the first quarter of this year. Rowley said that the Energy Ministry invited and received nominations from upstream operators for the 23 eligible open shallow-water blocks.
“The Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, will be continuing the engagement with upstream companies to assess and determine any reasonable and necessary additional fiscal stimuli which might be required to ensure that Trinidad and Tobago remains an internationally competitive hydrocarbon provenance,” he explained.
In Guyana, Politicians have refused to correct the lopsided Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) the country signed with oil giant, ExxonMobil. That agreement has been described as one of the worst in the entire global industry. While the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government agrees that the contract is lopsided, it will not change the deal. It said future contracts will have better terms that ensure more benefit to the country.
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