By Prior Beharry
THE Ministry of Energy is offering 13 blocks in its 2023 Shallow Water Competitive Bid Round that was launched on Wednesday.
The bid round will be open for six months, with the deadline for submissions being April 2, 2024, at 12 noon.
Speaking at the launch at his ministry’s office in Port of Spain, Energy Minister Stuart Young said the offered were Block 1(b), Block 2(ab), Block 2(d), Block 21, Block 22(a), Block 22(b), Block 4(c), Guayaguayare (Offshore) Block, Block Lower Reverse L, Block Modified U(c), Block NCMA 2, Block NCMA 3 and Block NCMA 4(a), located in the shallow water area off the coasts of Trinidad and Tobago.
He said, “The total unrisked resource estimate of these blocks is approximately 13.4 trillion cubic feet.”
Young said, “Preparations for this Bid Round began in August 2022 when the ministry invited nominations for blocks. The request for nominations was well received with 62 nominations made for the 13 blocks. Today, we are optimistic that the significant level of interest in these shallow water blocks will translate into a successful bid round.”
He said, “This is the first Shallow Water Bid Round being held since 2018 which had a disappointing outcome. As a result of this, we conducted a series of stakeholder engagements and then embarked on an internal review of our bid round process as well as the fiscal terms and conditions.
“This rigorous review yielded the removal of pre-bid fees, reduced bid fees and the provision of favourable fiscal incentives. Some of the key provisions of the Shallow-Water Model Production Sharing Contract are fiscal stability via a ring-fenced Production Sharing Contract, Cost Recovery up to 60% and the Minister is required to pay taxes and royalties on behalf of the contractor out of the Government Share of Profit Petroleum.”
