On August 12, 2025, ExxonMobil signed a landmark deal to explore a massive swath of deepwater territory off the east coast of Trinidad and Tobago, marking the oil giant’s return to the Caribbean nation after two decades. The agreement, hailed by some as a potential game-changer for Trinidad’s energy sector, comes amid mounting global pressure on fossil fuel producers to shift their focus toward cleaner, greener alternatives. Yet, as government officials in Port-of-Spain made clear, Trinidad and Tobago is not ready to relinquish its competitive edge in hydrocarbons just yet.
The exploration area granted to ExxonMobil is staggering in scale—spanning more than 2,700 square miles (7,000 square kilometers) and plunging to depths exceeding 6,500 feet (2,000 meters), according to government sources cited by the Associated Press and Reuters. In fact, as Trinidad’s Energy Minister Roodal Moonilal pointed out during the signing ceremony, “What we are awarding today is larger than the surface area of the country.” That’s no small feat for a nation of approximately 1.4 million people, long reliant on oil and gas as economic mainstays.
The deal, which followed six months of what both sides described as “record pace” negotiations, is the product of renewed optimism about the region’s deepwater potential. John Ardill, ExxonMobil’s vice president of global exploration, struck a cautiously optimistic note at the ceremony. “There are no guarantees of success,” Ardill acknowledged, but he added, “many of the largest discoveries and developments in the world are occurring in deep-water environments similar to what you have here.” ExxonMobil, he said, is committed to launching a geophysical survey within six months to gather seismic data and pinpoint promising drilling sites. The company’s initial exploration plan calls for a $42 million investment in 3D seismic surveys and up to two exploration wells, Trinidadian officials confirmed to Reuters.
Should those surveys yield positive results, ExxonMobil has signaled it could invest as much as $21.7 billion in the project, according to Energy Minister Moonilal. That figure is eye-catching, especially given the context: Trinidad and Tobago’s GDP has hovered around $23 billion in recent years. The scale of the potential investment underscores just how pivotal this project could be for the nation’s economic future.
ExxonMobil’s ambitions in Trinidad are shaped, in no small part, by its spectacular success just across the water in Guyana. Over the past decade, Exxon-led exploration in Guyana’s Stabroek block has uncovered more than 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas, transforming the small South American country into a major player on the global energy stage. Today, Guyana produces around 650,000 barrels of oil per day, a milestone reached less than five years after the initial discovery. “We see great potential to replicate the Guyana success here,” Ardill told the assembled audience in Trinidad, as reported by the Associated Press.
There are reasons to believe Trinidad could move even faster. Unlike Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago already boasts extensive oil and gas infrastructure, which could allow ExxonMobil to expedite production if reserves are confirmed. Ardill noted that the company plans to use its equipment and resources between Guyana and Trinidad to streamline the process. “While this is still frontier exploration, it has great potential in this ultra deepwater area,” he said, according to Reuters.
For Trinidad and Tobago, the timing of the ExxonMobil deal is significant. The nation’s energy sector has been grappling with aging fields and declining output, even as global energy markets remain volatile. The deal also comes on the heels of a setback: a planned partnership with neighboring Venezuela to boost energy production was recently derailed after the U.S. government revoked two Office of Foreign Assets Control licenses, citing sanctions on Venezuela’s energy industry.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who presided over the signing ceremony, was unequivocal about her government’s intentions. While she pledged that “necessary oversight and guardrails” would be in place to ensure environmental standards are maintained, she also made it clear that Trinidad and Tobago would not be swayed by external calls to abandon hydrocarbons. “The Northern Hemisphere developed their countries to the fullest and are now trying to put on us that we should clamp down on our carbon emissions, that we should look not too much to hydrocarbons,” Persad-Bissessar said, as quoted by the Associated Press. “Trinidad and Tobago has a competitive advantage when it comes to hydrocarbons, when it comes to the energy sector, and we should not lightly surrender that.”
Nevertheless, Persad-Bissessar emphasized that the agreement with ExxonMobil includes provisions to reduce carbon emissions during the project’s execution. She also signaled a willingness to review fiscal terms to attract further investment, telling Reuters, “Trinidad will not wait for the end of any energy era. Our principle is simple: investment goes where it is welcomed and stays where it is well treated.”
ExxonMobil’s return to Trinidad and Tobago is something of a homecoming. The company first began operations in the country in February 1998 but exited in 2003 after failing to find commercially viable reserves. This time around, ExxonMobil holds 100% interest in the awarded block and will serve as the operator, according to a company spokesperson cited by Reuters. The scale of the new exploration area—equivalent to seven offshore blocks and situated northwest of Guyana’s prolific Stabroek field—reflects both ExxonMobil’s confidence and the Trinidadian government’s eagerness to reignite its energy sector.
The new contract has not been without controversy. Environmental advocates and some international observers have questioned the wisdom of doubling down on fossil fuel exploration at a time when the world is racing to avert catastrophic climate change. Trinidad and Tobago, like many resource-rich developing nations, faces a delicate balancing act: how to harness its natural resources to drive growth and prosperity, while also heeding the call for a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.
For now, though, the mood in Port-of-Spain is one of cautious optimism. The government, backed by ExxonMobil’s technical expertise and deep pockets, is betting that the deep waters off Trinidad’s east coast could yield the kind of transformative discoveries that have made Guyana a global energy hotspot. As Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar put it, Trinidad and Tobago is determined to seize the moment—guardrails and all.
With seismic surveys set to begin within six months, and the first well drilling slated to follow, all eyes will be on this ambitious venture. The stakes could hardly be higher, both for Trinidad’s economy and for the ongoing debate over the future of fossil fuels in a warming world.
