kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
Although it may be costly for exploration and production companies to carry out the necessary seismic survey on Trinidad’s southern marine acreage, Heritage Petroleum’s offshore lead Richard Burgess says it remains a valuable asset which the company will turnaround.
Burgess was an attendee at the yesterday’s Energy Chamber Luncheon on Boosting Oil Production at the National Gas Company’s Employee Facility in Point Lisas.
He said the perception was that the country was sitting on a depleted and useless asset but there was evidence that the best parts of the structure have not been drilled.
He said it was shocking to consider that from an oil company operating for 40 years-plus that the best part of the structure was not tapped into because they interpreted it as shale intrusions. The needed seismic studies are estimated between $20 to $30 million, but Burgess said companies are willing to stand that cost.
“We have an asset of extreme value and we are going to turn it around,” he said.
Oil consultant Krishna Persad was also optimistic about boosting production through Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), especially through CO2 injection. Saying that EOR was big business worldwide, especially in the US and Canada, he estimated that it could boost oil recovery by close to 50 per cent.
It was for this reason he said there should be no abandonment of oil wells in Trinidad until EOR has been done, using CO2 injection.
However, the availability of CO2 comes into question. He proposed that the Government provide tax credits to the companies using CO2 and develop a penalty for those who release it into the atmosphere.
On the other hand, geologist Wilson Lalla believes that the fields in the Gulf of Paria are now marketable to the small oil companies as they have been producing for over 60 years and is in a state of maturity. He said that the big finds have already been made.
While he said significant development needs to be done in order to boost T&T oil production, he believes that unless the appropriate changes are made to the Supplemental Petroleum Tax, this cannot be achieved.