Ryder
Scott finding “An almost nonsense statistic.” ...says
Energy Ministry official
By Asha Javeed
Trinidad
Guardian
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
09 16 07
“An
almost nonsense statistic”
That’s
how director of resource management at the Ministry
of Energy and Energy Industries
Helena Inniss King described the 12 year-timeline
for proven gas reserves given in the Ryder Scott
Hydrocarbon audit.
King explained that the reserve-to-production
figure was not a static figure and was open to
change upon the discovery of new gas fields. She
said the discovery of new fields was highly probable
given Government's drive to stimulate more exploration
activity.
King said that a new bid round would be offered
by mid-2008 and that seismic work was being done
in ultra deep waters to offer the blocks for bid
by 2009.
King was speaking at a luncheon hosted by the
South Trinidad Chamber of Industry and Commerce
at Cara Suites Hotel, Claxton Bay, yesterday.
Officials
of the Ministry of Energy made a presentation
to Chamber members on the findings of the Ryder
Scott Hydrocarbon Audit which looked at T&T's
natural gas reserves.
The
audit determined T&T's proven reserves
are 17.05 trillion cubic feet (tcf), it’s
probable reserves stand at 7.76 tcf and possible
reserves at 6.23 tcf and concluded that at current
rates of consumption these reserves would last
another 12 years.
The
results of the audit led Prime Minister Patrick
Manning to prioritse energy projects and review
the Government’s energy taxation structure
to invite more exploration activity.
King
said that the ministry’s planning cycle
was not conditional on the findings of the audit.
In 2004, there were 64 prospects and in 2006 there
are 110 prospects, she said.
The
blocks offered in the 2006 bid round have not
been included in the audit but Government’s
stake in the Manatee field, which straddles T&T
and Venezuala, was added to the proven reserve
statistic.
Looking forward, the country can expect gas finds
from exploration activity presently being pursued
by EOG Resources, BG, Petro Canada and Canada Superior.
King said that there are 37.1 tcf of gas awaiting
discovery, nine exploration wells to be drilled
in 2007 within these prospect areas and seven exploration
wells to be drilled in 2008.
Key Findings of the Ryder Scott Hydrocarbon audit:
• A greater emphasis needs to be placed
on the country’s exploration resources
• There
is a wide distribution in the range of exploration
prospect sizes that are not captured
in the P50 case and the resources can be much larger
in some cases
• The base gas demand of 4.5 bcf/day best
fits the country’s current reserve volume
• Maximization
of gas recovery through the use of gas compression,
marginal field development
and increased use of subsea completions needs to
be undertaken
• A
second generation of new fields need to be developed.
Trinidad
Guardian
Saturday,
September 15th 2007
Copyright
©2007 Trinidad
Guardian. All Rights Reserved.
