T&T tonne: Energy Minister Conrad Enill said recent offshore finds added 2 trillion cubic feet to the country's gas reserves
T&T tallies offshore booty
Trinidad & Tobago's Energy Minister Conrad Enill said that Canadian Superior Energy and Petro-Canada's recent natural gas finds in the Caribbean nation's offshore play total an estimated 2 trillion cubic feet.
"Initial estimates of the resources in these new discoveries are in the order of 2 Tcf," Reuters quoted Enill as saying.
"There are still eight more wells to be drilled in the current programme and there is a high level of optimism for further success," he added.
Enill was referring to Canadian Superior's Block 5C located off the south-east coast of Trinidad and Petro Canada's Block 22 off Tobago’s north coast.
The Energy Ministry also plans to offer five blocks in shallow marine acreage off its east and north coasts in a new bid round by the third quarter of this year, he said.
"Our evaluation indicates that the blocks are likely to be gas prone and offers great potential for enhancing our gas reserves," Enill said in a speech.
The government also plans to offer blocks in its deep-water Atlantic play next year after a poor 2006 bid round in which a lone offer was received from Norway's Statoil, now StatoilHydro.
The ministry has since re-evaluated the area, gathering new survey data that will assist in the location of blocks for the new round.
The government has also commissioned a new audit of the country's gas reserves, which is scheduled for completion by May.
A January 2007 gas audit by the Houston-based Ryder Scott showed that 3P (proved, possible and probable) reserves were estimated at 30 Tcf, a decline of 3 Tcf over the last two years.
Trinidad & Tobago is the leading source of liquefied natural gas for the US and the world's largest exporter of both ammonia and methanol.