Christmas will not come early for the 11 energy companies competing for rights to explore and produce oil and gas on land in T&T. Onshore bid round results, which were promised by mid-December, have been delayed.Energy and Energy Affairs Minister Kevin Ramnarine confirmed via e-mail that the results of the onshore bid round were yet ready."Not yet. Date for announcement extended to January 31, 2014 or anytime before that."
Asked why there was need for the extension, Ramnaine said: "There were time constraints."However, if the ministry meets the new deadline, the period from opening of bids to the announcement of results will still be within an unprecedented time frame of under 12 months. The bid round opened on May 16 and closed on October 31.
At the closing ceremony for the onshore bid at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, on October 31, the boxes containing the bids were opened in the presence of bidders, and other energy industry executives. Government received 11 bids on the three blocks–Rio Claro, Ortoire and St Mary's (Moruga).AV Oil and Gas Ltd bid on Rio Claro and Ortoire. Glint Energy LLC and Lease Operators Ltd bid on all three. Touchstone Exploration Inc bid on Ortoire and Range Resources Ltd and Trinity Exploration and Production plc bid on St Mary's.
At the time, Ramnarine had said the successful bids would be announced before the end of the year."We will go into the evaluation mode as soon as possible and we will make an announcement by the middle of December," he said. T&T also has a deepwater bid round ongoing which will close in January 2014, days before the largest energy conference in the Caribbean; the T&T Energy Conference, which will take place from February 3 to 5.