‘Vast’ frontier block in Trinidad’s deepwater goes to ExxonMobil

August 14, 2025, by Dragana Nikše

U.S.-headquartered energy giant ExxonMobil has signed a production sharing contract (PSC) with the Government of Trinidad & Tobago for a deepwater block off the coast of the Caribbean country.

PSC signing ceremony; Source: John Ardill via LinkedIn

Based on a social media post by ExxonMobil’s Vice President John Ardill, the T&T Ultra Deepwater 1 (UD-1) block, exclusively assigned to ExxonMobil with a 100% working interest, spans approximately 7,100 square kilometers, making it larger than the country itself.

According to the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago, UD-1 represents seven consolidated blocks (TTDA 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23). The country offered 26 blocks during February’s Deep Water Competitive Bidding Round 2025, and the seven blocks in question formed part of the open acreage.

“We are tremendously excited about the prospects this collaboration brings and look forward to utilizing ExxonMobil’s industry-leading capabilities to unlock the potential of this expansive region for the benefit of the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” noted Ardill.

Based on information from Trinidad’s Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, ExxonMobil Exploration & Production Trinidad Limited previously signed a PSC with the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in February 1998. This was followed by drilling two wells in blocks 25(b) and 26 in 2002.

ExxonMobil’s VP believes this strategic acquisition opens up new opportunities for his company to leverage its deepwater technology and subsurface expertise in exploring what he says is a vast frontier block located northwest of the Stabroek block in neighboring Guyana.

Yellowtail, ExxonMobil’s fourth project in Stabroek, started producing oil last week through the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, One Guyana. Encompassing six drill centers and up to 26 production and 25 injection wells, the project is said to be the largest Guyanese development to date, with an initial annual average production of 250,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd).