Amoco Trinidad Oil Co. continues to ramp up exploration and production southeast of Trinidad and Tobago in the Atlantic Ocean.
The company's offshore gas production is growing because of a $300 million program launched in November 1991 to increase gas sales to state owned National Gas Co. (NGC) to 350 MMcfd by 1996.
Amoco in 1992 agreed to sell 200 MMcfd of gas to NGC under a contract that calls for sales through 2010.
To fulfill short term supply commitments to NGC, Amoco is focusing on offshore gas reserves in Flamboyant and Immortelle fields, formerly known as West East Queen's Beach and North Southeast Galeota fields, respectively. Flamboyant and Immortelle development is to include reentering and completing two wells, drilling as many as 15 additional wells, and installing more offshore production, processing, and transportation facilities.
Amoco in February 1992 let a turnkey contract to the marine engineering unit of Brown & Root Inc. (B&R) to manage engineering, procurement, fabrication, transportation, and installation of platforms and associated flow lines for Flamboyant and Immortelle.
Trinidad and Tobago's longer term goals include increasing gas production to become a significant supplier to export markets.
To help achieve that objective, Amoco plans to delineate additional reserves in the next few years on its existing acreage. Company officials said some fields' acreage might have significant deep potential, including oil as well as gas.
GAS ACTIVITY UPDATE
Amoco last January began producing about 80 MMcfd of gas and 2,000 b/d of condensate from a 1987 discovery to a two slot, 550 ton satellite platform installed last November in 260 ft of water in Flamboyant field, about 38 miles east of Trinidad.
The four legged, four pile Flamboyant satellite was constructed in Houston at B&R's Greens Bayou yard. Castoro Otto, a combination derrick/lay vessel owned and operated by Italy's Saipem SpA, installed the Flamboyant satellite after completing the installation of pipeline infrastructure from Amoco's Flamboyant and Immortelle fields to the Cassia platform in about 220 ft of water.
Rowan Cos. Inc.'s Rowan Gorilla IV jackup rig, the largest to operate off Trinidad and Tobago, tied back the 2 West East Queen's Beach wildcat (WEQB) to Flamboyant.
The project to start up 2 WEQB marked the first time in Trinidad and Tobago that an existing well was tied back to a new platform, reentered, and placed on production. Amoco chose that plan because it was the most feasible way of starting Flamboyant gas production quickly.
Flamboyant gas is flowing to Cassia through a 10 in., 12 mile subsea pipeline laid in October 1992 by Castoro Otto. The vessel also laid 6 miles of 24 in. pipeline between Cassia and the future site of Immortelle platform, a 16 slot, 3,200 ton structure the crane ship is to install by mid-1993.
B&R early this month expected Immortelle's four legged jacket to be 58% complete and its six legged integrated drilling and production deck to be 68% complete. Amoco intends to use the Castoro Otto to install Immortelle platform in 243 ft of water.
Amoco has drilled more than a half dozen wells in the Immortelle area to delineate gas potential. Current plans call for the 1 Immortelle well, formerly 11 North Southeast Galeota, to be the first well tied back to the new platform. Amoco will drill additional wells following tieback of 1 Immortelle.
DEEP OIL TEST
The Rowan Gorilla TV early in February spudded the 2 Samaan Deep wildcat for Amoco in Samaan field, about 25 miles off Trinidad's east coast.
While deeper wells have been drilled elsewhere off Trinidad's east coast, Amoco said the $20 million deep oil test will be the first well in the Samaan area drilled to more than 12,500 ft.
In addition to drilling through sandstones above 12,500 ft in which reservoir pressures have been depleted, 2 Samaan Deep is expected to encounter downhole pressures as high as 15,000 psi in deeper formations en route to projected depth 15,500 ft.
Extremely varied reservoir pressures created complex casing design string requirements.
For example, casing ranges from 42 in. surface connector pipe to a 7 in. liner. Also, the prospect of encountering extremely high reservoir pressures prompted a plan for drilling mud weighted to 19 lb/gal. Rowan Gorilla IV was needed because of its variable load capacity of 8.6 million lb and its 15,000 psi blowout preventure equipment.
Amoco estimates 2 Samaan Deep will reach projected depth by the end of May. If significant hydrocarbons are discovered, Amoco will spend about $3.5 million to test the well.
Not counting Flamboyant and Immortelle, Amoco operates 12 drilling platforms in production mode and four production facilities in four oil fields and two gas fields off Trinidad and Tobago. At yearend 1992, Amoco had about 157 wells producing off Trinidad and Tobago. Of them, nine are water injectors, and 17 are shut in.
Amoco's Trinidad and Tobago oil production in 1992 averaged 64,393 b/d. Gas sales in 1992 averaged 375 MMcfd, including volumes under contract to NGC and to T&T Electrical Commission (T&TEC). Amoco in 1992 was under contract to sell 282 MMcfd of gas to NGC and T&TEC.
The company's oil production peaked early in 1978 at 148,500 b/d and since has declined steadily. Cumulative oil production reached 691 million bbl at yearend 1992 and cumulative gas production 3.1 tcf.
Amoco as of Jan. 1, 1992, estimated its Trinidad and Tobago reserves at 153 million bbl of oil and 1.3 tcf of gas.
Copyright 1993 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
