There appears to be no letting up in the efforts of the oil companies currently operating in the region to ramp up their oil recovery operations following their various discoveries arising out of prospecting activities in the region.
Reports from Trinidad and Tobago indicate that British Petroleum, Trinidad and Tobago, (bpTT) had struck ‘first gas’ in what is known as its Matapal Subsea Development property located 80 kilometres off Trinidad’s south-east coast. The realisation of ‘first gas,’ according to a regional report, came a full seven months ahead of the estimated schedule and that the operation was realised below the budgetary allocation. All of this, the report notes, was achieved notwithstanding the operational constraints arising out of the sustained threat of the novel coronavirus.
It would appear that bpTT has already confidently announced that Matapal should, in its initial stage of production, deliver 250-350 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day, “once all wells are fully ramped up.”
The discovery is expected to impact positively on Trinidad and Tobago’s energy needs, since the report says that gas from the project will be pooled with production from other bp fields and applied as feedstock for the twin-island republic’s ammonia, methanol, and LNG plants and for power generation.
bpTT reportedly operates fifteen offshore production platforms and is Trinidad and Tobago’s largest hydrocarbon producer, “accounting for about 55 per cent of the nation’s gas production,” according to the report. It also quotes a bpTT official as saying that arising out of the Matapal development, “natural gas will play an important role in the energy transition and in the economy of Trinidad and Tobago for decades to come.”
Here in Guyana, ExxonMobil, in collaboration with its partners, Hess Corporation, and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, one of the largest national oil companies in China, last week disclosed the discovery of 220 feet (67 metres) of net pay in high-quality hydrocarbons at the Pinktail well in the country’s offshore Stabroek Block earlier this month. The three companies also made public their post-appraisal findings at Turbot-1 and -2 wells. “In addition to successful appraisal of the Turbot discovery, the Turbot-2 well encountered 43 feet (13 metres) of net pay in a newly identified, high-quality, hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone reservoir separate from the 75 feet (23 metres) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir pay encountered in the original Turbot-1 discovery well,” a release from ExxonMobil stated.
The new revelations have added significant value to the now celebrated Stabroek Block which will, according to an ExxonMobil spokesman, “generate value for both the Guyanese people and for our shareholders.”
Hess Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer John Cousins has reportedly gone on record as saying that the recently disclosed and recoverable resources in the block amounts to more than nine billion barrels of oil equivalent.
A measure of the value which the partners are now placing on the likely recoverable oil reserves in the region is reflected in what the Hess CEO says is an “extensive well programme in the Stabroek Block, utilizing six drill ships to test-play extensions and new concepts, evaluate existing discoveries and complete development wells for the Liza Phase 2 and Payara projects,” And seemingly in an effort to add further ‘muscle’ to its current operations, ExxonMobil and its partners are reportedly awaiting the arrival in the region of the Liza Unity Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel which is currently en route to Guyana. The vessel is a key resource associated with kick-starting the Joint Venture’s 2022 production programme at Liza Phase 2 development, where a report says that it anticipates output of approximately 220,000 barrels of oil per day.
Regional oil recovery pursuits are also currently ensuing offshore Suriname where Total Energies and Apache have reportedly recently just spudded their fourth well for 2021, the Keskesi East-1 in Block 58.
