Barbados’ offshore acreage could hold more than 13 billion barrels of oil in place, based on seismic surveys and technical assessments, as the country advances direct negotiations for exploration licences across 19 offshore blocks.
The figure adds scale to the offshore push already being advanced by the Mia Mottley administration. Barbados is seeking climate-conscious partners to explore 19 offshore blocks across shelf and deepwater acreage.
Director of Natural Resources Jamar White said the assessment points to a potentially large offshore resource.
“We potentially have upwards of 13 billion barrels of oil in place, potentially 40-plus trillion cubic feet of natural gas,” White said, according to Barbados Today on June 2.
Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Business Development and Commerce Kerrie Symmonds also cited the estimate.
“We have done seismic surveys – two-dimensional seismic surveys and three-dimensional seismic surveys – and they would suggest to us that we have the potential of having perhaps as many as 13 or more billion barrels of potential oil and then 40-plus trillion cubic feet of natural gas,” Symmonds said, according to Nation News on June 3.
The estimate is not a proven reserve figure. It represents potential oil in place. Exploration drilling would be needed to determine whether commercial quantities exist offshore Barbados.
Guyana’s Stabroek Block holds upwards of 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources, with production currently approaching one million barrels per day.
Barbados’ 2026 Offshore Petroleum Direct Negotiations cover 19 available blocks. The Ministry of Energy, Business Development and Consumer Affairs said the acreage spans 62,643 square kilometers, with an average block size of 3,297 square kilometers.
The available acreage includes three newly established ultra-deepwater blocks: Windmill, Landship and Culpepper. The Oistins block, which had been withheld from previous licensing campaigns, is also available.
The pre-qualification period opened on June 1 and runs until September 1. Direct negotiations are scheduled from June 15, 2026, to January 15, 2027. Awards of blocks are scheduled between July 15, 2026, and February 15, 2027.
Companies must show legal, technical and financial capacity. They must also meet health, safety, environmental, climate and local content criteria before advancing to negotiations.
Barbados has a long onshore petroleum history. The Ministry of Energy says oil was collected from hand-dug pits as far back as the eighteenth century. Machine-drilled wells were first implemented by the West India Petroleum Oil Company in 1896.
The government formed the Barbados National Oil Company Limited in 1982 after Mobil’s operations. The ministry says there are about 240 oil and associated gas wells onshore Barbados, with 80-100 producing at any one time in the Woodbourne Development Area.
Barbados’ offshore search has moved more slowly. Its Offshore Petroleum Programme was officially launched in 2007. In 2015, the government and BHP Billiton signed exploration licences for the Carlisle Bay and Bimshire blocks, located southeast of Barbados.
Those blocks cover about 5,000 square kilometers and sit in water depths of about 1,200-2,000 meters. The Barbados government later said effective offshore exploration licences were issued to BHP Petroleum in 2020, after environmental impact assessments and environmental plans were approved.
Symmonds said Barbados wants partners with deepwater capability and strong environmental standards.
