Trinidad and Tobago’s offshore oil and gas sector typically generates more attention on the onshore sector. This is not surprising as the offshore sector produces about 65% of the country’s crude oil production and 98% of the natural gas production. It also generates the high value contracts and exciting opportunities for contractors which make international industry news.
Nevertheless, the onshore sector, where Trinidad's industry started well over a century ago, remains important to the country. Onshore oil and gas drilling and development projects typically have a much higher local content spend than offshore projects. Support activities like road and bridge construction or upgrades, site preparation and transport of equipment create business opportunities for Energy Chamber members, most of whom are smaller local service companies and contractors.
Out of the 366 companies who meet the basic HSE pre-qualification requirements to work on high-risk activities in Trinidad & Tobago (Safe to Work), 63% have less than 30 employees and almost half have 15 or fewer employees. The Safe to Work system has a specific category for companies who meet the requirements to work onshore (and not the higher requirements needed offshore) and 58 % of the total high risk certified companies fall in that category. There are, therefore, many qualified small and medium sized companies who can benefit from increased focus on the onshore industry.
Onshore oil and gas development creates much needed economic activity and jobs in rural areas of south Trinidad, including in some of the most economically depressed areas of the country. From a national perspective it also means that there is a lot of capital investment using T&T dollars to generate a commodity that then generates US$ when sold to international markets, which is positive from a foreign exchange point of view.
Much of the onshore acreage is controlled by state-owned Heritage Petroleum, who either operate fields themselves or lease them out to other small privately-owned operator companies under various models (such as farm-outs, lease-outs or incremental production sharing contracts).
Heritage Petroleum recently announced that it was seeking partners for the Preau Block. Heritage recently acquired the E&P license and is currently trying to advance development of the block. Heritage's announcement that it is looking for partners is generating some excitement within the local industry.
The block is located immediately south of the Heritage Barrackpore License (Core Area C) and covers approximately 11,200 acres. This block is surrounded by proven oil and gas fields, indicating it to be a potentially hydrocarbon-rich area.
Heritage said it is seeking a partner to support in the initial exploration phase, to determine hydrocarbon presence and then to further collaborate in the development and commercialization of the Block.
Heritage previously submitted information to the Environmental Management Authority for a two-well exploration project on the acreage.
Touchstone Exploration has also recently developed several onshore sites which have led to the re-energization of the possibilities for onshore natural gas production, and is currently producing around 35 mmscf/d of natural gas in addition to its crude oil production. It is in the process acquiring the gas producing central block from Shell.