Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday extended by almost two months a deadline to submit bids for an auction of shallow-water oil and gas blocks, the government said.
Trinidad is Latin America's largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) with installed capacity of 15 million metric tons per year, and one of the world's biggest exporters of methanol and ammonia, but its plants have been operating below capacity in recent years due to a lack of gas supply.
The new deadline was set for May 27, giving companies more time to submit bids for the blocks. Bids had been due April 2.
Trinidad's shallow water areas are considered mature as they have already been explored and have produced over 2 billion barrels of oil and 20 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas.
The twin-island country in October launched the auction, offering 13 shallow-water oil and gas exploration blocks, more than double the number of areas in included in its 2019 shallow-water auction.
In that 2019 bidding round, a consortium by Shell and bp submitted bid for three of the six blocks offered. The bids were rejected by the government for failing to meet the minimum threshold.
(Reuters - Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston)