Trinidad and Tobago’s offshore workers should begin building skills for floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels as the country renews its focus on ultra-deepwater exploration, regional Health, Safety, Security, and Environment consultant Garth Vincent said. Vincent made the call during an online FPSO Safety Management webinar hosted by the Energy Chamber Learning Centre on August 28.
He said Trinidad and Tobago has decades of offshore oil and gas experience, but workers may need additional training to serve on FPSO vessels.
“Offshore experience is not the same thing as FPSO competence,” Vincent said.
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His comments come as ExxonMobil carries out exploration work on the TTUD-1 ultra-deepwater block. The Trinidad and Tobago government signed a production sharing contract for TTUD-1 with ExxonMobil on August 12, 2025.
ExxonMobil contracted Shearwater GeoServices to conduct a 3D seismic survey over the acreage. The Amazon Warrior seismic vessel departed Chaguaramas for the survey in January 2026, according to the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries. Any decision to develop TTUD-1 would depend on the results of ExxonMobil’s exploration program. Those results are expected at the end of August.
Vincent said workers should use the exploration period to prepare for the skills that could be required if new deepwater projects move into development.
“If I was in that sector, I would definitely now be equipping myself with this new skill that I’m able to transition,” he said.
The training is relevant to engineers, HSE officers, offshore supervisors, marine personnel, emergency teams, regulators, contractors, and suppliers, Vincent said.
The Energy Chamber Learning Centre plans to offer a three-day FPSO Safety Management course in late September. The program will cover vessel operations, hazard identification, risk management, emergency response, safety audits, contractor management, and permit-to-work controls.
