Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries Press Release:

On 13 November 2025, Dr. the Honourable Roodal Moonilal, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, the Honourable Ernesto Kesar, Minister in the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries along with Karinsa Tulsie, Permanent Secretary (Ag.) Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries and Marc Rudder Deputy Permanent Secretary (Ag.) at the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, met with executives from China National Offshore Oil Corporation Limited (CNOOC), at the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries’ International Waterfront Complex, Head Office, Port-of-Spain.

The CNOOC executives present at the meeting were, Liu Yongjie, Chairman of CNOOC International; Wang Jian, Vice President Business Development Centre; Fan Hongyao, Project Director 2025 T&T Deep Water Bid Round; Yan Qinghua, Project Manager; and Jeff Smith, Senior Engineering Manager.

 
 

Currently, CNOOC is the third largest national oil company in China and is ranked as the sixth largest oil and gas company by market capitalization. The company is the largest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Importer in China and the second largest LNG trader around the world. CNOOC International Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited began expanding globally 30 years ago. Presently, CNOOC International Limited has operations across six (6) continents, in nineteen (19) countries with an interest in multiple deep-water producing fields across Guyana, Nigeria and Brazil.

The company has a 25% working interest in the deep-water Stabroek Block in Guyana which has an estimated 11 billion barrels of resource, the largest discovered resource on a single license in the past 15 years. CNOOC International currently holds a 12.5% stake in the Block 2(c) project in Trinidad and Tobago through its subsidiary, Chaoyang Petroleum Ltd.

During the meeting, the company expressed a strong interest in growing its presence in Trinidad and Tobago. The Honourable Ministers welcomed the meeting as timely and well aligned with the Government’s policy and drive to revitalise the energy sector, as mandated by the Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar, S.C., M.P. Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Both parties affirmed that the discussions and personal introductions marked the commencement of a long-term and productive relationship.