Trinidad & Tobago to Tender 8 Deepwater Blocks by End-March

The 800 sq km blocks are located off the east coast of Trinidad and are 1,700-2,500 meters deep, Reuters quoted Trinidad's MEEI permanent secretary Leroy Mayers as saying. Several international companies with Caribbean operations have expressed their interest, such as US oil company EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG) and Anglo-Australian resources company BHP Billiton (LSE: BHP), the news agency reported.

EOG and BHP Billiton officials were not available for comment when contacted by BNamericas on Wednesday.

UK oil majors BP (NYSE: BP) and BG Group (LSE: BG) are also studying data on the blocks, according to the news agency.

2006 E&P BID ROUND

At end-January MEEI opened a competitive bid round for eight blocks in the Combined Southern basin land acreage, South Coast Marine Area and three blocks in the Shallow Marine Acreage off the north and east coasts of Trinidad.

The eight onshore/nearshore blocks include shallow and deep horizon areas in each of the Guayaguayare, Southwest Peninsula, Herrera and Central Range blocks.

The shallow marine blocks are 2(ab), comprising an area of 1,605 sq km, NCMA 2 and NCMA 3, both covering an area of 1,019 sq km. The three blocks have water depths ranging from 25-130 meters.

Companies intending to bid on any of the blocks referred to above will be required to pay a pre-bid application fee. This fee entitles the prospective bidder to the relevant data package, which contains 2D seismic lines and well data on the respective blocks.

The fee is US$150,000 for to bid on any or all of the combined onshore/nearshore blocks and US$50,000 each for the three shallow marine blocks.

Interested companies must submit bids by March 30 and the winning bidders will be announced on or before June 4, the ministry spokesperson said.

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