The energy ministry announced that Trinidad and Tobago signed a production-sharing agreement on Tuesday with a British oil and gas company BP unit for the exploration and production of natural gas in a shallow water area.

The agreement comes after a round of offshore bidding launched by the Caribbean nation last year. It is expected to encourage a greater gas output for liquefied gas (LNG).

In a press release, it stated that "the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries continue to aggressively promote and execute concessions in order to encourage exploration and investment upstream."

This contract is the second of its kind signed with BP. The first was with BP in relation to block NCMA 2 located in Trinidad’s North Coast Marine Area at a depth of 200 meters (660 ft) in water.

In September, Modified U(c), the most contentious area of the round. (Reporting and writing by Curtis Williams, Editing by Margueritachoy)

(source: Reuters)