S&P Global Commodity Insights has rated Trinidad and Tobago’s 2025 deepwater bid round the “largest offshore auction in the country’s history”.
The bidding round opened in January and will remain active until early July. The bid round offers 26 offshore blocks covering about 29,177 square kilometers. S&P Global Commodity Insights called it “the most extensive licensing opportunity” ever offered by Trinidad and Tobago.
The government aims to unlock hydrocarbon potential in some of its least explored frontier areas.
Awards are expected by October 2025, with each block carrying a 10-year exploration term and a potential 25-year extension upon commercial discovery. Blocks are located across the Northeast Caribbean Deformed Belt, the Tobago Basin, and the Columbus Sub-basin.
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Half of the offered blocks failed to attract bids during previous rounds in 2021/2022.
Notable areas include TTDAA 5 and surrounding blocks near Woodside’s 2017 Le Clerc gas discovery, estimated at up to five trillion cubic feet (Tcf). Other key blocks lie adjacent to Block 23(a) and TTDAA 14, near the Calypso project, which may reach final investment decision by late 2025 or 2026. The Calypso project includes gas finds at Bongos 2, Bele 1, Boom 1, Hi Hat 1, and Tuk 1.
Woodside previously led a 20,977 sq km 3D seismic survey between 2014 and 2015, the largest marine survey of its kind in the western hemisphere. To support the current round, a 6,500 sq km 3D seismic project in the Tobago Basin is planned with Searcher Seismic, though delayed until mid-2025.
Bids for the auction will be evaluated using a point-based system considering profit-sharing, bonuses, seismic programs, and well commitments. The evaluation will also weigh factors differently depending on the geographic location of the block.
Trinidad and Tobago has held annual licensing rounds since 2021 to attract upstream investment. While past delays have impacted awards, the 2023 shallow water round saw faster execution, with four blocks awarded within seven months.
The government is optimistic about new exploration efforts that could unlock nearly 60 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas. Trinidad’s annual gas output has dropped from 1.479 tcf in 2012, to 0.988 tcf in 2022.
The government has been working to promote partnerships with Venezuela for joint gas development, hoping to partially reverse the gradual decline in Trinidad’s output. However, those hopes were dashed when the Trump administration revoked the licenses granted to Trinidad and Tobago for the Dragon and Manakin-Cocuina cross-border gas fields.
