Petro-Canada, Kerr-McGee, Canadian Superior, EOG Resources, Total, Norsk Hydro and BHP Billiton were among the successful bidders in Trinidad and Tabago’s recent offshore acreage sale, which eventually could lead to new gas supply for the Atlantic LNG project, the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter to the United States.

The Trinidad government offered 10 blocks of acreage off the western, eastern and northern coasts for exploration and production. Total funds generated from pre-bid application fees, licensing of data related to the blocks and bid application fees reached TT$28.9 million (US$4.6 million).

Minister of Energy & Energy Industries Eric A. Williams said it is the policy of the government to encourage exploration activity to increase the country’s oil and gas reserves. The hydrocarbon reserves of Trinidad have grown sharply since 1995 and are now at about 9.2 billion boe.

Canadian Superior placed a successful bid for Block 5(c), an 80,041-acre Continental Shelf block in water depths in excess of 500 feet that has been estimated to contain 4 Tcf of gas reserves.

“Trinidad is one of the most coveted oil and gas exploration basins in the world today, with the presence of multiple exploration and production opportunities, a government and people that are supportive of the oil and gas industry, fair win-win production sharing terms and a stable legal and fiscal system…,” said Greg Noval, president of Canadian Superior.

The company said that Block 5(c) represents a “world class opportunity” and possesses significant natural gas exploration potential. It offsets the large Dolphin gas field that is operated by British Gas. “We look forward to working diligently with the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries in finalizing and executing the production sharing contract and moving forward with our exploration and development program on Block 5(c),” said Noval.

“In addition, we are busy conducting the front-end work for our existing Trinidad and Tobago exploration program on our ‘Trinidad Tradeswinds Project,’ on our current joint venture acreage with the Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (Petrotrin) in the Mayaro Bay/Guayaguayare area off the east coast of Trinidad. Pending regulatory approvals, we are planning a high-resolution 3D seismic program over this area for later this year, with exploration drilling to follow once all necessary front-end work is complete and regulatory drilling approvals are in place.”

In October 2003, Canadian Superior announced that it had entered into a major joint venture off the east coast of Trinidad with Petrotrin in the Mayaro Bay/Guayaguayare area. The Mayaro/Guayaguayare blocks are 55,000 acres and are located near shore along the east coast of Trinidad, on trend with the recently discovered BHP Billiton/TotalFinaElf/Talisman Angostura field and other recent discoveries.

Other winning bidders in the recent acreage sale include the following companies:

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