Exxon Eyes Up to $21.7 B Trinidad Deep-Water Investment

Exxon Mobil has signed a production-sharing contract that will return the U.S. major to Trinidad and Tobago’s deep-water acreage, the Caribbean nation’s Energy Minister Roodal Moonilal said in Port of Spain on Tuesday. The company plans to shoot a 3D seismic survey over the block within the next six months and drill two exploration wells once the data are analyzed, according to Exxon's vice-president for global exploration. If commercially viable oil and gas reserves are confirmed, the firm could invest as much as $21.7 billion in developing the field, Moonilal added. Exxon executives said the geology offers a chance to replicate the multibillion-barrel discoveries the company made off neighboring Guyana, where it is already producing more than 600,000 barrels a day. Trinidad, the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in the Western Hemisphere after the United States, is seeking new output to keep its LNG plants and petrochemical facilities supplied.