Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine says he pleased with the recent announcement by Repsol of its discovery of 40 million barrels of oil in its TSP acreage which is adding to overall national oil production. In a brief statement, Ramnarine said the discovery is the fifth in the last two years and comes after discoveries by Petrotrin, Bayfield (now Trinity) and BP in 2012 and by Trinity in late 2013 in its TGAL 1 well.
"These discoveries are premised on a significant increase in exploration and development activity in both land and marine acreages over the last three years. This is also reflected in the record levels of foreign direct investment that the energy sector has experienced in the period 2011 to 2013," he said. "These trends signal a resurgence of the upstream component of the national energy sector. The net result is an arresting of the decline in oil production which declined sharply from 2006 to 2012."
The minister noted the enabling environment that has been created through the introduction of a suite of fiscal incentives for oil and gas companies. At present there are eight rigs working in the waters of T&T. Two are currently working for Repsol–the Seadrill West Freedom and the Rowan Gorilla III.