Trinidad and Tobago: Bid round a success

ALL 10 blocks in the latest auction of offshore acreage attracted bids—the first time this has happened in a bid round over the last decade. Such a high level of interest virtually guarantees that offshore exploration will continue for several more years. The energy minister, Eric Anthony Williams, tells Petroleum Economist he is 'very pleased' with the results of the auction. 'Trinidad is seen by international companies as a good place to look for oil and gas and a good place to find it.'That confident assertion is not quite borne out by the drilling results from deep-water acreage. All eight wells in blocks 25a, 25b, 26 and 27, drilled by Shell, ExxonMobil and BP, showed no evidence of com