BP Trinidad and Tobago and EOG Resources will jointly drill the deepest well in the Caribbean island, Prime Minister Patrick Manning has announced.
The prime minister said, "Two large oil companies have indicated to the government that they have decided to jointly drill a well off the east coast of Trinidad to test one of the largest structures. The structure is so large that they anticipate that if a discovery is made it should contain 2.5 to 6 tcf of natural gas. Look at that compared with the current possible reserves of 35.2 tcf ."
Manning, a geologist, said the two companies would drill the well to a depth of 21,000 ft in the South East Coast Consortium (SECC) block where EOG Resources is operator.
Manning said if the companies were successful it would open up an entire new play for gas exploration in Trinidad and Tobago. He said, "Both companies came to the conclusion independent of each other that there was likely a significant amount of gas deep below the surface, in fields already in production."
All of the gas produced in Trinidad and Tobago comes from shallower wells on both the continental shelf and on land, and the proposed well will be drilled below the SECC field, which produces 200 MMcfd.
The well is estimated to cost $40 million and will be drilled in the second quarter of 2005.
Trinidad and Tobago's deepest well went to 19,000 ft. It was drilled the former Elf Aquitaine in what was then the S11 B Block. The block has not been unitized and is called S11. That well, called Morphor-1, was not commercial.
Drilling deeper
One challenge facing companies that seek to drill beneath existing fields is data quality, said Dr. Peter Rattey, BPTT's vice-president, exploration and production. "In the Columbus basin for example, we are now being challenged to find structures bearing hydrocarbons, below shallow gas. The frequency content of the seismic volumes we acquire in these areas is often too low and hence does not provide the clarity needed to map these structures. Therefore, understanding geometry and structural and stratigraphic evolution will be critical."
Rattey added, "The new fields of the future will most likely be deeper, hotter, and at higher pressure, or possibly more onshore with smaller 3D areas, or in older rocks."
Executive Chairman of BPTT Robert Riley also spoke with OGJ on the possibilities provided by the drilling and what he said was tremendous prospects in its own acreage.
Riley said; "The Columbus basin is a world-class hydrocarbon resource basin still rich with opportunity. We took an 18-month time out from drilling beginning in 2002 to focus our energy on further deepening our understanding of the structural and stratigraphic framework. This gives us a better picture of the prospectivity of the entire Columbus basin.
"To date we have generated an initial suite of leads—15 tcf risked reserves. We expect drilling options to be realized from these reserves in 2004-05."
BPTT has committed itself to spend $2.5 billion over the next three years exploring and developing its assets in Trinidad and Tobago as it attempts to shore up gas for a fifth and sixth LNG trains.
The company is the largest shareholder in Atlantic LNG, which is constructing a fourth train. Trinidad and Tobago is also the largest exporter of LNG to the US, having accounted for 77% of total LNG imports into the US in 2003.