FOCUS: EXPLORATION Trinidad and Tobago enjoying exploration boom

Amoco's Corallita 1 Discovery Well [58272 bytes]

Spurred by important offshore discoveries of natural gas made since 1994, Trinidad and Tobago is experiencing a major surge in exploration. Most of this activity is aimed at finding new gas deposits off the northern and southeastern coasts of Trinidad, the larger of the two islands.
Amoco Corp., Broken Hill Pty. Co. Ltd. (BHP), British Gas (BG), Elf Aquitaine, Enron Corp., Mora Oil Ventures Ltd. (owned by a Trinidadian investor), Repsol SA, and Texaco Inc. currently are involved in exploration programs of differing dimensions-either as operators or as partners in consortia.
Companies also are negotiating new concession contracts with the Trinidadian government and are studying the possibility of making offers to explore nine deepwater blocks in the Atlantic Ocean to the east and northeast of the main island.

Hiking reserves, production

Thanks to exploration by international companies, the country's natural gas reserves have increased dramatically in recent years.

The government-owned National Gas Co. (NGC) estimates that gas reserves at yearend 1995 totaled 18.8 tcf (including proven and discounted probable and possible reserves), compared with 13.9 tcf in 1993.

Ironically, this comes at a time when Trinidad's crude oil production continues a general decline that began almost 2 decades ago. While some oil discoveries have been made, they are not large enough to reverse the downward trend in production. Crude output now averages about 133,000 b/d, down from a peak of 230,000 b/d in 1978.

Amoco top player

Amoco by far is the biggest player in Trinidad exploration, having added about 7 tcf of natural gas (and 100 million bbl of crude) to the island's reserves since 1994. Amoco's Trinidad unit completed its 1995-96 drilling program in June 1996, racking up seven discoveries (with significant volumes of natural gas) and one dry hole out of the eight well program.

The wells, NEQB-4, El Diablo 1, East Mayaro 5, Corallita 1, Lantana 1, East Mayaro 5-X, Claro (the only dry hole), and La Novia were drilled 35-53 miles offshore in 200-350 ft of water. The biggest producer of the group thus far has been East Mayaro 5-X, located 45 miles off the southeastern coast of Trinidad in East Mayaro field, which flowed 64 MMcfd of gas plus 3,700 b/d of crude and condensate.

Out of Trinidad's total gas reserves of 18.8 tcf, Amoco has identified around 10 tcf of gas on its concessions. The area off Trinidad's southeastern coast holds over 20 oil and gas fields, and Amoco has discovered most of them.

Over the next few years, Amoco plans to drill about 65 wells in its East Mayaro and South SEG (south-southeast Galeota) fields, with 40 wells slated for the former and 25 for the latter.

For 1997-98, Amoco is planning to drill 12 wells in East Mayaro. This work will be aimed mainly at ensuring sufficient feedstock for the Atlantic liquefied natural gas export project now under construction at Point Fortin, on Trinidad's southwest coast.

Amoco Trinidad Oil Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Amoco, has signed an agreement with Atlantic LNG Co. of Trinidad and Tobago to supply as much as 475 MMcfd of natural gas to the LNG plant for 20 years. LNG production is slated to begin in mid-1999 (see map, OGJ, Dec. 16, 1996, p. 13).

Amoco, BG, Repsol, Cabot Corp., and NGC are equity partners in Atlantic LNG, which is building a $1 billion facility to produce 3 million metric tons/year of LNG for export.

Wells will be drilled directionally from platforms.

Amoco has conducted exploration and development work off Trinidad's southeast coast since the mid-1960s and has invested around $1.5 billion in the area since then.

During 1976-93, Amoco drilled about 40 exploratory wells in the Atlantic east of Trinidad but made only four discoveries (two crude oil and two gas). In 1994-95, the company drilled six exploratory wells and brought in three gas producers. Since then the company's success record has been almost perfect, seven more finds and only one dry hole.

During the next 20 years, Amoco expects to make capital investments of $1.2 billion in Trinidad, with much of this going to exploration for and development of gas fields off the southeast coast.

British Gas, Texaco

British Gas and Texaco also are important players in Trinidad.

BG began working in Trinidad in 1989, when it acquired Tenneco Inc.'s offshore interests there.

BG operates Dolphin gas field southeast of Trinidad on behalf of a 50-50 BG-Texaco partnership. Texaco, which has operated in Trinidad for decades, also has a joint oil venture with Petrotrin, the national oil company.

Dolphin field, with potential reserves estimated at more than 1 tcf, went into production in March 1996 and is now producing about 87 MMcfd of gas. BG and Texaco have an agreement to supply Trinidad's NGC with as much as 275 MMcfd of gas under a 20-year supply contract. BG continues to develop Dolphin field and expects to reach 275 MMcfd by 2003.

BG, a partner in the Atlantic LNG project, also operates two licenses in the North Coast Marine Area totaling around 232,000 acres. In the DAB West license, BG has a 60% interest with Agip SpA and Deminex AG (20% each). BG is currently acquiring 3D seismic studies covering 570 sq km in DAB West and plans to drill some appraisal wells in 1997. In addition, BG, Agip, and Deminex each holds a one-third share in the DAB East license.

Gas has been discovered in the North Coast Marine Area in three undeveloped fields: Hibiscus, Poinsettia, and Orchid. BG believes that these fields could have reserves of more than 5 tcf of natural gas and hopes to provide natural gas to any future LNG trains that may be added to the Atlantic project.

BG and Texaco each have 50% interests in Blocks E and 6d covering 200,000 acres in the East Coast Marine Area.

Initial exploration in Block E began in late 1994, but the drilling of the Marlin structure had limited success. Geological and geophysical studies are continuing on other potential prospects on the block.

In Block 6d, adjacent to the Trinidad-Venezuela maritime boundary, a gas accumulation has been tested successfully on the Venezuelan side, and its extension into the consortium's acreage has been mapped by BG. BG and Texaco are currently reviewing plans for future exploration in the North Coast Marine zone.

Enron's activity

Enron Oil & Gas Co. began work in Trinidad when it obtained a 95% working interest in the Southeast Coast Consortium (SECC, previously owned by the Trinidadian government) in 1992.

It currently produces 150 MMcfd of gas and 6,000 b/d of condensate and crude from the SECC, which includes Kiskadee, Ibis, and Pelican fields.

Enron produces from two platforms in Kiskadee and Ibis fields. (Pelican field, developed before Enron began operating in Trinidad, had very low production and did not meet expectations.)

The company ran a seismic survey over the entire block in 1993 and installed Kiskadee platform the same year. Eight wells were drilled from the platform to the Kiskadee sand at true vertical depth (TVD) of about 15,500 ft. All wells were drilled directionally, and some reached as much as 18,000 ft measured depth.

One well, completed in 1994 (KB-1), was drilled to the reservoir from a platform (Banyan) installed jointly with Amoco (Amoco and Enron hold concessions that adjoin each other off the southeast coast).

Enron installed Ibis platform in 1994 and drilled five wells to the Ibis sand at TVD of about 15,000 ft. These wells were completed in September 1995. All are appraised as development wells.

In 1996, Enron signed a production sharing agreement with the Trinidad and Tobago government for Block Modified U(a), also an offshore block. Currently the company has completed more than 70% of an 11,500 km seismic survey there and plans to drill three exploration/appraisal wells.

Other offshore action

In other offshore activities, Trinidad's Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries recently awarded a production-sharing contract to Elf Exploration Trinidad (operator), Amoco Trinidad, and Repsol Exploration Trinidad covering Block S11(b), a 400 sq km area off the southeast coast of the main island.

The companies are committed to acquire 250 sq km of 3D seismic and drill one wildcat within 3 years. Elf also owns 30% of Block 2c off the Trinidadian coast with operator BHP Petroleum (Trinidad), which holds 70%.

The ministry is also negotiating offshore production-sharing agreements with Amoco and Repsol for Block 5(b) and with Conoco for Blocks 4(a) and 4(b).

Mora Oil Ventures Ltd., the first local independent to work offshore Trinidad, is planning to expand development of its Mora field off the east coast and later explore more thoroughly its 5,034 acre Mora Block.

The Mora platform produced 225,000 bbl during its first 19 months of operations, and the company plans to raise crude output to more than 2,500 b/d by yearend 1998.

Trinidad and Tobago's government is seeking more exploration investments offshore. In August 1996, it called for bids for the first time on nine deepwater blocks in the Atlantic to the east of Trinidad covering more than 3.7 million acres. The blocks are located more than 50 miles offshore in 750-1,750 m of water (see map, OGJ, Oct. 7, 1996, p. 38).

Bids originally were to be received by Jan. 31, 1997, but the government extended the deadline to Mar. 31 at the request of some oil companies.

Trinidad and Tobago is also interested in more intensive exploration in the Gulf of Paria, off the island's west coast, where neighboring Venezuela has discovered large volumes of nonassociated gas.

Onshore work

Onshore there has been comparatively little new exploration.

Trinidad's national oil company, Petrotrin, is not exploring at present but plans to drill at least one onshore wildcat "in the near future" under a joint-venture agreement.

State-owned NGC does not engage in exploration, but it is in charge of purchasing, transporting, and selling natural gas in the island republic. It also participates in offshore gas production/

compression and promotes new industrial projects based on natural gas.

The Northern Basin Consortium (NBC), consisting of state-owned Petrotrin, Anderman-Smith, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and Krishna Persad & Associates (a Trinidadian company), was formed in January 1995 to explore the onshore Caroni basin. It plans extensive seismic work.

The Southern Basin Consortium (SBC), made up of Petrotrin, Exxon, Chevron Corp., and Total, disbanded after three wells drilled to the Cretaceous in southern Trinidad showed no significant reserves. However, Petrotrin plans to use the seismic data gathered by SBC in future exploratory work.

Trinidad's current crude oil production, about 133,000 b/d, is shared by Amoco (around 44%); Trinmar-a joint venture of Petrotrin and Texaco-(24%), Petrotrin (22%), Enron (6%), and others.

Amoco was the largest provider of natural gas in 1995 (about 350 MMscfd), followed by Enron (126 MMscfd), NGC (106 MMscfd, from its own compression platforms), and Trintomar, a joint venture of Petrotrin and NGC (9 MMscfd)