BP PLC reported that it has discovered 2 tcf of natural gas with two exploration wells drilled in the Columbus basin offshore the east coast of Trinidad and Tobago.
Bernard Looney, BP chief executive, upstream, said the Savannah and Macadamia wells made discoveries in untested fault blocks and are the first wells drilled following its ocean-bottom cable seismic (OBCS) survey (OGJ Online, Feb. 17, 2017).
The Savannah exploration well was drilled into an untested fault block east of Juniper field in 500 ft of water, Looney noted. “Based on the success of the Savannah well, BP Trinidad & Tobago (BPTT) is expecting to develop these reservoirs via future tie-back to the Juniper platform.”
The Macadamia well was drilled to test exploration and appraisal segments below the existing South East Queen’s Beach (SEQB) discovery, which sits 10 km south of producing Cashima field, Looney said. “This new discovery in the Macadamia well combined with the existing shallow SEQB gas reservoirs is expected to support a new platform within the post-2020 timeframe.”
These were the first exploration wells drilled by BP in Trinidad and Tobago in a decade. The Columbus basin has been a prolific oil and gas province having already produced more than 1 billion bbl of oil and more than 25 tcf of gas.
As a result of the success, Looney announced further exploration, saying, “The discoveries mark the start of a rejuvenated exploration program on the Trinidad shelf with a further three exploration wells to be drilled.”
Those wells will be drilled in second-quarter 2019.
Looney said the gas discoveries will go a long way to alleviating the gas-supply challenges in Trinidad and Tobago but noted that there was a need for the company and the government in the Caribbean twin-island nation to work together to fully solve the issues.
“There is still work to be done to ensure we can fully reap the benefits of these new opportunities and we need to work together to ensure the gas remains as competitive as it can be.” Looney said.
Both discoveries are near to existing infrastructure and would be produced after 2022.
