Trinidad to award ExxonMobil deepwater exploration acreage

PORT OF SPAIN, August 6, 2025 – Trinidad and Tobago has agreed to award ExxonMobil exploration acreage covering seven ultra-deepwater blocks, Reuters reported on Tuesday citing two senior government officials.

The area to be awarded has been named Ultra Deep 1 or UD (1) and has water depths that range between 2,000-3,000 metres. Ultra Deep 1 is located off the east coast of Trinidad and lies northwest of ExxonMobil’s prolific Stabroek block in Guyana, which is estimated to hold resources for around 11 billion boe.

The agreement could be signed as early as next week, according to the government sources, who added that ExxonMobil has agreed to a signing bonus and a three-phase exploration programme with seismic studies and drilling. Terms for cost recovery, royalty payments and profit sharing with the government are also said to have been laid out.

Trinidadian Energy Minister Roodal Moonilal did not respond to a request for comment.

In February 2025, Trinidad and Tobago launched a bid round for 26 deepwater exploration blocks that included Block 24 and Block 26, along with 24 blocks in the Trinidad and Tobago Deep Atlantic Area, but does not include the blocks that ExxonMobil is interested in. Reuters reports that the company first approached the Trinidadian authorities to obtain the blocks in November 2024.

Trinidad is aiming to boost offshore production to support its LNG and petrochemicals sectors amid gas shortages and shelved cross-border projects. The country’s new administration following the general election of April 2025, led by prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, intends to enhance production and explore new fields to stabilise and eventually increase oil and gas revenues.

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