Efficient Regulation. Responsible Development. A Stronger Trinidad and Tobago
Recent reporting on ExxonMobil’s exploration activities in Trinidad and Tobago highlights an important point: effective environmental regulation can support investment while ensuring that environmental considerations remain central to development.
In December 2025, the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) issued ExxonMobil Trinidad and Tobago Deepwater Limited a Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) for a 3D seismic survey covering 8,825 square kilometres within Block TTUD-1, offshore Trinidad. The approval was granted well within the EMA’s statutory timeframe, following a thorough, science-based and transparent assessment supported by technical review and inter-agency collaboration.
ExxonMobil has highlighted, as recently as August 2026, the efficiency of the process, and spoke positively about the ease of doing business in T&T.
For the EMA, this is what effective environmental governance looks like: rigorous review, timely decision-making and environmental management working alongside sustainable national development.
Dr. Joth Singh, newly appointed Managing Director and CEO of the EMA, emphasized, “under the policy leadership of Chairman Doolar Ramlal and his Board of Directors , the EMA is committed to improving its efficiency, effectiveness, responsiveness and impact in addressing its environmental management mandate for Trinidad and Tobago.”
The EMA’s role is not simply to approve or refuse projects. It is to ensure that development proceeds within a framework that protects the country’s natural resources and supports sustainable development.
Good environmental governance builds confidence. It protects our environment. And it helps create the conditions for responsible investment.