Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 27 -- Trinidad and Tobago has approved new production-sharing contracts and is said to be considering licensing larger blocks in a bid to stimulate increased exploration and production from the twin-island nation's dwindling natural gas reserves.
The Ministry of Finance unveiled details of the latest PSCs, which form part of the 2007 finance bill and which will provide for consolidation of profits and losses stemming from petroleum operations.
The government, meanwhile, is expected to offer larger ultradeepwater blocks in the country's next offshore licensing round, said Victor Young On, exploration manager for Petroleum Co. of Trinidad & Tobago Ltd. (Petrotrin), at the Society of Exploration & Geophysicists international exposition held Sept. 23-28 in San Antonio, Tex.
Young said Statoil SA offered the only bid in the eight 800-sq-km, ultradeepwater blocks offered in the country's 2006 offshore licensing round. Although the government has yet to decide to increase block sizes, he said such a decision likely would be prompted by operator demand and the lack of interest in the recently offered sites.
In August, the Ryder Scott audit of Trinidad and Tobago's gas reserves revealed a 3.83 tcf decline since January 2005. The report found that the nation has 17.05 tcf of proved gas reserves, 7.76 tcf of probable reserves, and 6.23 tcf of possible reserves (OGJ Online, Aug. 24, 2007).
The same day, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning said the nation will offer incentives next year to major oil and gas companies to explore for hydrocarbons in marginal fields.
Analyst BMI forecast that the nation's gas production, used for domestic consumption and its growing LNG trade, would increase to at least 60 billion cu m by 2011 from 35 billion cu m in 2006.
BMI said local demand is expected to increase to 26 billion cu m from 16 billion cu m over the same period, and export potential, to 34 billion cu m from 19 billion cu m.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].