Barbados could be sitting on more than 13 billion barrels of offshore oil and over 40 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, with Government now formally beginning the process of identifying international companies to help determine whether those resources can be commercially developed.
Minister of Energy, Business Development and Commerce Kerrie Symmonds, who is also acting as Prime Minister, yesterday revealed the findings of extensive seismic surveys during the launch of Government’s direct negotiations process for offshore exploration, describing the potential reserves as a significant opportunity to strengthen the island’s long-term energy security while creating new economic opportunities.
The announcement, at the Ministry’s Warrens Office Complex in St Michael, marks a major step in Barbados’ decades-long search for offshore hydrocarbons and comes as the country seeks to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels while continuing its transition towards renewable energy.
“We have done seismic surveys – two-dimensional seismic surveys and three-dimensional seismic surveys – and they would suggest to us that we have the potential of having perhaps as many as 13 or more billion barrels of potential oil and then 40plus trillion cubic feet of natural gas,” Symmonds said.
Director of the Natural Resources Unit James White said the figures were the result of years of exploration and interpretation work carried out offshore Barbados.
“We potentially have upwards of 13 billion barrels of oil in place and potentially 40-plus trillion cubic feet of natural gas. While those numbers can be used to assess what the potential value would be to the country, I think it is more important for us to underscore that we are doing this in a measured way. We want to ensure that we work with qualified companies who can help us realise that potential,” White said.
Government yesterday officially launched the pre-qualification phase for companies interested in participating in offshore exploration.
White said interested firms have until September 1 to submit applications demonstrating their legal, technical and financial capacity, as well as their environmental and climate credentials.
Companies that successfully pass the pre-qualification stage will be invited into direct negotiations with Government, a process expected to continue into early 2027.
White said Cabinet could begin awarding exploration blocks as early as next year, paving the way for exploratory work offshore Barbados.
Symmonds stressed that Barbados would not simply partner with any oil company. Instead, Government is seeking firms with proven expertise in ultra-deep-water drilling, strong environmental records and demonstrated commitments to decarbonisation, he pointed out.
“What we are trying to do is to find companies who will work with us on the basis of a few important criteria. First, they have to be able to do drilling and exploration in ultradeep water. Secondly, we want to be able to have companies that have the technical experience with regard to the cleaner aspects of exploration and then turn on the things that I’ve just spoken to with regard to methane and decarbonisation,” he said.
The acting Prime Minister acknowledged the apparent contradiction between Barbados’ climate leadership and its interest in hydrocarbon exploration, but argued that technological advances were making oil and gas production significantly cleaner than in previous years.
He also noted that natural gas remained an important transitional fuel as Barbados works towards its renewable energy targets.
Symmonds said offshore exploration could generate benefits far beyond energy production. He pointed to opportunities for employment, technical training, transportation services, accommodation providers, food and beverage businesses and the wider economy.
“Part of what we are doing is also trying to structure partnerships with people who will provide a solution and respect the need for Barbados to have local content in these discussions and negotiations. By local content, I am talking specifically about the ability of Barbadians to get jobs, the ability of Barbadians to provide services and the ability of Barbadians to be able to get some of the direct economic benefits from oil exploration.”
He said the existence of significant oil and gas deposits could provide Barbados with greater economic and geopolitical leverage in an increasingly uncertain global energy market.
“It gives us leverage, geopolitical leverage, which is something that small islands very rarely have. It enables us . . . to protect ourselves from having to do the importation and therefore we shield to some extent the foreign exchange drain on the country.”
(CLM)
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