Big oil find in T&T within next five years
Energy Minister Ramnarine suggests:
Five years or less.
Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine has optimistically suggested that within five years, a major oil deposit will be discovered in Trinidad and Tobago’s deepwater fields that will change the economic fortunes of the county.
“We are very optimist at the ministry about our deepwater potential. Having seen the data, we are optimistic such a discovery will manifest itself in the next five years. We are also optimistic about what will happen in other provinces of Trinidad and Tobago,” Ramnarine told the audience during the opening ceremony for the Geoscience Technology Workshop at the Hyatt Regency (Trinidad) in Port of Spain yesterday.
Ramnarine’s comments were in line with the Workshop’s theme, Deep Horizon and Deep Water Frontier Exploration in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Should there be a major deepwater discovery in the next five years, followed by production coming in a few years after, the impact would be significant for the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country and change the economy for a very long time to come, he said.
Referring to comments by local petroleum engineer Dr Krishna Persad, Ramnarine said Trinidad and Tobago’s deepwater fields could possibly contain two billion barrels of oil.
“When you consider we have produced 3.4 billion barrels of oil in 106 years (of the industry), this will be an entire province that could bring prosperity to this country. That optimism is shared by BHP Billiton (which holds the largest proportion of deepwater exploration contracts). Our deepwater has all the ingredients to be a world class deep water province,” he said
Ramnarine said the future of the industry will depend on:
1. Development of heavy oil, particularly in Trinmar.
2. Application of enhanced oil recovery techniques.
3. Application of 3D seismic surveys over land.
4. Application of 3D seismic surveys in Columbus basin.
5. Application of 3D seismic surveys to Trinmar and North Marine acreage.
6. Exploration of deepwater about to happen.
7. Cross border natural gas development.
“When you put all that together there is a very bright future for Trinidad and Tobago. It is important to get the economics and commercial model right and to get the right assets into the right hands,” he said.