(Trinidad Express) Government has launched its first deep water bid round since 2014 to advance exploration for energy resources.
But it comes at a time when the latest audit of the country’s natural gas reserves shows a small decline in recoverable resources.
Speaking at the official launch of the 2021 deep water competitive bid round yesterday in Port of Spain, Energy Minister Stuart Young said Government was looking forward towards the future of gas exploration.
Young indicated that preparations for the bid round began in March 2020 when the ministry invited nominations for offshore blocks.
“The request for nominations was well received with 27 nominations for the 17 blocks. This is indication of the high interest in the blocks and augurs well for a successful bid round,” he said.
He said the deep water bid round generated waves of interest at a number of promotional events and conferences abroad and right here in Trinidad.
The bid round will be open for six months, with the deadline for submission being June 2, 2022 at noon.
Successful bidders will be announced three months following the close.
The blocks are to be offered via production sharing contracts and comprise 17 blocks located in the deep-water marine area off the Northern and Eastern coasts of Trinidad and Tobago.
The total unrisked resource estimate of these blocks is approximately 18.1 tcf, Young stated.
The results of the annual audit of the non-associated natural gas reserves and resources of Trinidad and Tobago for year end 2020 were presented with the bid round yesterday.
The audit was performed by the Ryder Scott Company, which began conducting natural gas audits for the Government in 2000.
Young said since his ministry last presented the gas audit 11 months ago, the results of the latest one have shown a small downward revision in the Technically Recoverable Resources.
“Gas production fell significantly between 2019 and 2020, due to amongst other things, project delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the P2 + C2 Resources, which were formerly referred to as probable reserves, showed a 5.4 per cent increase between the 2019 and 2020 audits.
“Exploration resources rose from 2019 to 2020 by almost ten per cent, largely due to leads and prospects identified by the Ministry and reviewed for the first time by Ryder Scott in preparation for the recently opened 2021 deep water competitive bid round,” Young said.
The current Cabinet-approved the contract with Ryder Scott Company which ends this year, with the submission of this, the fifth and final audit, Young said.
“At this time the Ministry is supporting a highly competitive tender process to select the consultant for a future audit contract covering the next five-year period from year-end 2021 to 2025,” he said.
During his presentation, Ryder Scott executive vice-president Herman Acuna noted that natural gas reserves fell flat at around ten tcf with about five tcf additionally expected from exploration.
Acuna noted that comparatively low P1 + C1 volume replacement for year end 2020 audit could be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic and its unprecedented impact of activities in the oil and gas industries.
He said the country’s natural gas volumes decreased faster than they were replaced.
