FAILURE ON ENERGY BLOCK A SIGN OF THE TIMES

THE lack of success in exploring a deepwater block is seen as a sign of the times for Trinidad and Tobago’s energy industry.

Woodside Energy Group of Australia has come up empty-handed after exploration in TTDAA, one of several upstream sites in which there is activity for natural gas.

Woodside said it would be uneconomic to develop the site.

The company said there would be “significant challenges to development.”

The energy firm is still involved in two other blocks more than 200 miles off the country’s coast, where it had made its Calypso discoveries.

At that site, which is close to existing infrastructure, Woodside saw great potential for future gas finds.

T&T is depending heavily on the success of Calypso to revive gas production and power up the ALNG facility and underperforming petrochemical plants at Point Lisas.

Operations at the Manatee field have stalled because of the absence of an exploration agreement with Venezuela.

Energy officials fear that the recent lack of success by Woodside is an indication of reduced availability of gas and difficulty in exploring the remaining reserves.

In addition, energy sources have blamed the government for not providing improved pricing as an incentive for international investors.

They say the 2022 revision of the Supplementary Petroleum Tax (SPT) does not include the gas industry.

The Rowley Government has been slow to award contracts for deepwater exploration, and when it did in 2022, only four of 17 available tenders were awarded.

With the high cost of upstream exploration, the government should provide extensive incentives, experts said.

Such activity is extremely capital-intensive, the energy experts have explained.

The Woodside failure could signal overall bad news for the future of the sector.

Energy Minister Stuart Young, who held discussions with Woodside officials during a conference in Canada, did not reveal the bad news.

The revelation was made by the international media.