Energy Sector Thread - Operators, Engineers, Technicians Et Al

[The_Honourable]

Exclusive: Trinidad, ExxonMobil agree to terms for deepwater blocks, government sources say

HOUSTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Trinidad and Tobago's government has agreed to award U.S. oil major ExxonMobil (XOM.N) acreage in an ultra-deep area that includes seven blocks to explore for oil and gas, two senior government officials told Reuters.

The parties began negotiations earlier this year for the areas off the east coast of the Caribbean country, which ExxonMobil left more than 20 years ago. The blocks are located northwest of ExxonMobil's prolific Stabroek block in Guyana, where the consortium it leads has confirmed more than 11 billion barrels of recoverable resources.

ExxonMobil and the Trinidadian government could sign the agreement as soon as next week, according to the people with knowledge of the negotiations, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

The area to be awarded to ExxonMobil is an amalgamation of seven blocks, and has been renamed Ultra Deep 1 or UD(1). The area covers water depths of 2,000 to 3,000 meters, the people told Reuters.

"We will not comment on third party sources, but we routinely look at opportunities to optimize our advantaged portfolio," an ExxonMobil spokesperson told Reuters.

Trinidad and Tobago Energy Minister Roodal Moonilal did not respond to a request for comment.

"Ultra-deep Trinidad and Tobago could unlock potential similar to ExxonMobil's Stabroek block," according to a 2024 study by Houston-based energy data analytics firm TGS.

In Guyana, ExxonMobil and partners Chevron are about to begin production at their fourth floating facility, which will expand its capacity beyond 900,000 barrels per day (bpd), less than six years after beginning oil production in the South American country. The group plans to produce up to 1.7 million bpd by 2030.

During a press briefing last week, ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said exploration is part of a three-pronged approach to ensure that the company continuously replaces the oil and gas it produces.

WORK TO DO

ExxonMobil has agreed to a signing bonus and a three-phase exploration program in Trinidad that includes the acquisition of seismic data and drilling of exploration wells, the two sources said.

If oil or gas is found, the agreement also includes royalty payments and a share of the profits to the government, along with a provision for cost recovery, the sources said.

ExxonMobil first approached the Trinidadian government in November of 2024 with interest in the seven blocks, they added.

Trinidad and Tobago is in the middle of a deepwater auction, opens new tab that has been extended to close on September 17 and excludes the areas ExxonMobil is interested in.

According to Trinidad's laws, the government can individually negotiate areas for exploration and production if they are not included in a competitive bidding round.

Trinidad has been trying to rejuvenate investment, especially offshore, where more gas output is needed to support the nation's liquefied natural gas and petrochemical industries. But it is also hoping to find oil in its deep waters.

A flagship offshore gas project with neighboring Venezuela recently lost its U.S. authorization to move forward and has been shelved. It was expected to help relieve some of the country's ongoing gas shortages.

"We're continuing to have a very consistent and focused effort on finding more resources that will be economically advantaged and competitive in our portfolio." Woods said.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 025-08-05/

[ProtonPowder]

Just realise that these talks were underway since the end of last year-the beginning of this year, and the blocks Exxon were negotiating on were purposely left out of the deepwater round that started in January because of it

[iannar]

There is not a lot of local news media covering this story that I could find -

https://energynow.tt/blog/exclusive-tri ... ources-say

Wonder why this is not publicized more - isn't this supposed to be huge news and a political victory?

[shaneelal]

There is not a lot of local news media covering this story that I could find -

https://energynow.tt/blog/exclusive-tri ... ources-say

Wonder why this is not publicized more - isn't this supposed to be huge news and a political victory?

Maybe because it's not official yet, all three daily papers did have articles mentioning gov't was in talks with Exxon and two referenced the Reuters article. Even if they do find hydrocarbons, it may still take years before we get any revenue from it.

[The_Honourable]

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has expressed optimism about energy developments in Trinidad and Tobago, highlighting a strong recovery in the sector.

Speaking at the UNC Monday Night Report on the Government’s first 100 days in office, she stated that “the energy tide is turning” in the nation’s favour, with several projects underway, including the return of ExxonMobil to T&T after 22 years.

She also revealed that the Government is set to sign a multi-billion-dollar agreement on Tuesday for ultra-deep-sea drilling in the country’s territorial waters.

[The_Honourable]

Was taking in the broadcast of the agreement signing. Exxonmobil's VP of global exploration John Ardill stated that there is a high possibility of replicating the "Guyana success" here. Using the Guyana timeline, 3D seismic data was done in 2013 (which Exxon is about to do here now), 2015 oil was discovered where first production was in 2019. Guyana booming ever since.

So if we are using their timeline, we should know around 2027 if there are any discoveries. If we do hit oil, first production should be around 2031. Interestingly the timeline can shorten as T&T have existing expertise and most importantly infrastructure that Exxon had to build from scratch in Guyana.

If Exxon discovers oil and the timeline shortened we probably looking around 2030... just in time for general elections.

[Dizzy28]

Was taking in the broadcast of the agreement signing. Exxonmobil's VP of global exploration John Ardill stated that there is a high possibility of replicating the "Guyana success" here. Using the Guyana timeline, 3D seismic data was done in 2013 (which Exxon is about to do here now), 2015 oil was discovered where first production was in 2019. Guyana booming ever since.

So if we are using their timeline, we should know around 2027 if there are any discoveries. If we do hit oil, first production should be around 2031. Interestingly the timeline can shorten as T&T have existing expertise and most importantly infrastructure that Exxon had to build from scratch in Guyana.

If Exxon discovers oil and the timeline shortened we probably looking around 2030... just in time for general elections.

The TGS 2024 study confirms geological continuity between Trinidad's TTUD1 block and Guyana's prolific Stabroek basin, suggesting similar petroleum systems. Industry analysts assign 60% probability to Trinidad standalone success, 35% to regional processing hub development, and 15% to full Caribbean integration. Conservative scenarios project $45-70 billion economic impact over 20 years, but the hub scenarios reach $85-120 billion through infrastructure leverage.

How come PNM never highlighted this in any substantial way in the lead-up to the elections?
Also why place Dragon in so much preeminence when we knew we had this?
https://www.tgs.com/hubfs/2024%20Articl ... n%20of.pdf

[The_Honourable]

Was taking in the broadcast of the agreement signing. Exxonmobil's VP of global exploration John Ardill stated that there is a high possibility of replicating the "Guyana success" here. Using the Guyana timeline, 3D seismic data was done in 2013 (which Exxon is about to do here now), 2015 oil was discovered where first production was in 2019. Guyana booming ever since.

So if we are using their timeline, we should know around 2027 if there are any discoveries. If we do hit oil, first production should be around 2031. Interestingly the timeline can shorten as T&T have existing expertise and most importantly infrastructure that Exxon had to build from scratch in Guyana.

If Exxon discovers oil and the timeline shortened we probably looking around 2030... just in time for general elections.

The TGS 2024 study confirms geological continuity between Trinidad's TTUD1 block and Guyana's prolific Stabroek basin, suggesting similar petroleum systems. Industry analysts assign 60% probability to Trinidad standalone success, 35% to regional processing hub development, and 15% to full Caribbean integration. Conservative scenarios project $45-70 billion economic impact over 20 years, but the hub scenarios reach $85-120 billion through infrastructure leverage.

How come PNM never highlighted this in any substantial way in the lead-up to the elections?
Also why place Dragon in so much preeminence when we knew we had this?
https://www.tgs.com/hubfs/2024%20Articl ... n%20of.pdf

Never heard about it during the election cycle, only knew that there were deepwater bid round for the blocks. Posted articles some months ago about that and there was nothing about exxon. Only dragon and we coo coo cook if we didn't get thu.

When the US revoked the dragon license, that was the best time for stuart to mention it.