Touchstone Exploration has once again confirmed the existence of natural gas deposits in the Ortoire Block in south east Trinidad. Touchstone’s latest well in its exploration drilling campaign, the Cascadura Deep-1 well, again discovered significant hydrocarbon accumulations. The company has stated that wireline logs indicated natural gas pay totaling approximately 1,315 net feet in four unique thrust sheets in the Herrera sands.
Touchstone Exploration has traditionally been one of the small independent onshore crude oil producers but has now had four significant natural gas discoveries onshore Trinidad in the Ortoire block, which it secured in the 2014 onshore bid round.
The majority of natural gas produced in T&T comes from offshore, with bpTT, Shell, EOG, BHP off the east and north coast and DeNovo in the Gulf of Paria, with one small onshore field in the central block operated by Shell. When these onshore assets begin to produce, Touchstone will become the sixth producer of natural gas in the country. Touchstone had no reserves booked for the Cascadura Deep-1 well in the Company’s December 31, 2019 independent reserves report which means these are new reserves to be added to the national reserves.
The Cascadura Deep-1 well is the fourth of the amended five well exploration commitment under Touchstone’s Ortoire Exploration and Production License. The Company has an 80% working interest in the license and is responsible for 100% of the drilling, completion and testing costs associated with the initial five exploration wells. Heritage Petroleum Company Limited holds the remaining 20% working interest.
The other wells drilled in the block which confirmed natural gas deposits are the Cascadura 1ST1, Coho-1, Chinook-1.
Paul Baay, President and CEO, Touchstone Exploration said, "I am pleased that the Ortoire block continues to outperform our expectations. The Cascadura Deep-1 well is the best well we have drilled on the Ortoire property to date and it has provided three key pieces of information, primarily that the Cascadura field has numerous targets with each one of the thrust sheets providing its own unique opportunity. It has also shown that the system is hydrocarbon charged and that in time we will require more drilling horsepower to evaluate the deeper zones. We now have a unique opportunity to design a development drilling program in the area and expand our exploration program while we complete and tie-in the existing Cascadura and Chinook wells. The time required to undertake this will allow us to secure additional equipment and submit a full field development plan to proceed with a continual drilling program. As we move into 2021, Touchstone is entering a new phase that will see rapid production growth along with a balanced portfolio of development and exploration opportunities."
Touchstone and the National Gas Company have already signed a Framework Agreement to develop plans and foster a strategic partnership with respect to the development, sale and purchase of natural gas and natural gas liquids produced from the Ortoire Block.
The agreement and the discoveries come at a time where there are continued questions about gas supply to the downstream petrochemical industry and the Atlantic LNG facility. Thus far testing done by Touchstone indicates that production from each well may be relatively small compared to the offshore producers, however these volumes will help in stabilizing the natural gas supply and improving value in the country.
Onshore developments are typically quicker to be able to bring to market, with less infrastructure required for development. They also usually have higher levels of local content. While the total capital expenditure is typically a lot less than major offshore developments, more of the investment dollars spent tend to recirculate in the local economy. The Cascadura Deep-1 exploration well was developed using the local-owned Well Services Petroleum Ltd. Rig #80 and many of the service companies employed on the project are also locally owned. Touchstone has also secured financing from within Trinidad & Tobago, through Republic Bank.
Mark Loquan, President of the NGC at the signing of the agreement earlier this year said, “In the context of world events and the domestic gas scenario, this Agreement and the considerable potential of the underlying asset is good news for our energy sector. Credit must be given to all our teams, across all three parties, who have been driving the effort to ready this Agreement, even amidst prevailing challenges. NGC has been aggressively pursuing new sources of gas as part of our growth strategy, and this development adds another measure of stability to supply from a promising new prospect. We are now set to open a new chapter in the history of onshore natural gas production.”
Photo Credit: Xavier Moonan
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