DeNovo moved from start-up, new upstream operator to Trinidad and Tobago’s first local natural gas producer in just under 3 years, delivering first gas from the Iguana field in Block 1(a) in November 2018. Founded in 2016 by Joel “Monty” Pemberton, DeNovo’s Iguana greenfield development involved drilling three production wells, installing a Sea Swift conductor supported platform, along with a 45 km offshore and onshore pipeline, and constructing an onshore Gas Processing Unit with a capacity to process up to 90 MMSCFD of natural gas.
In 2018, the national spotlight was on the closure of the Petrotrin refinery and many were concerned about the availability of refined products, in particular, transport fuels. Most of these concerns appear to have been alleviated with the functioning of the new company, Paria Fuel Trading Company.
The first few months of 2019 are set to be a busy time for deepwater exploration in Trinidad and Tobago, with BHP reportedly set to drill three wells to follow up its Bongos 2 discovery last year. The Bongos 2 well was drilled in BHP’s Trinidad and Tobago Deep Atlantic Area (TTDAA) Block 14, in deepwater east of Tobago. BP holds a non-operator share in the block. The wells will be drilled by the Deepwater Invictus drillship, which has been drilling for BHP in TTDAA and the Gulf of Mexico.
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the Trinidad & Tobago Energy Conference 2019. I would like to say a special welcome to all our international visitors and also to those of you who are attending the conference for the first time.
Once again, it is my distinct honour and pleasure to deliver the feature address at this the opening of 2019 Energy Conference and Trade Show hosted by the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago. I want to thank the organizers for the sterling effort dedicated towards organizing this very important event and for being so kind to invite me to address you. It is an opportune moment, coming soon after my nationwide broadcasts and public conversations with the nation, on the state of affairs of the economy of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) and particularly, the contribution of the energy sector.
The 20th Ministerial Meeting of Gas Exporting Countries was held in Trinidad and Tobago in mid- November and the Ministry of Energy hosted a T&T Gas Symposium which featured a keynote address by the Prime Minister, Dr. the Honourable Keith Rowley.
The first export of crude oil from Petrotrin was loaded onto the tanker Hellespont Progress on Tuesday 30th October 2018 and is listed as being destined for Panama on marine tracking websites. According to a press release from Petrotrin dated 1st November 2018, the tanker was loaded with approximately 500,000 barrels of crude oil which was purchased by Trafigura Oil Traders, one of the world’s major commodity traders.
The Energy Chamber wishes to publicly recognize and applaud the outstanding achievement of contracting companies who have demonstrated a commitment to high HSE standards in their organizations. All companies were certified during the period May 2017 – August 2018.
The Joint Chambers have noted the comments made by President of the Industrial Court, Justice Deborah Thomas-Felix, at a special sitting to mark the opening of the court’s new term.
The Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago warmly welcomes the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago and congratulates both governments on this positive step towards strengthening regional economic and social integration.
Despite an uptake in activity in 2018 due to new drilling programmes coming on stream, local companies are not feeling optimistic about their business prospects.
The decline in Trinidad and Tobago’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports over the past few years, on the back of falling natural gas production, has seen big declines in the volume of exports to Argentina and Brazil. Volumes destined for Trinidad and Tobago’s other major markets, such as Chile, USA, Central America and the Caribbean have remained relatively robust.
Over 36 years after being discovered, the Iguana gas field in Block 1(a) is on track to begin production in 2018. Local drilling contractor, Well Services Petroleum Company Limited (Well Services), has announced the completion of a three-well development campaign for the Iguana field, which is owned and operated by DeNovo Energy Limited (DeNovo).
NiQuan Energy has finally made progress on the gas-to-liquids facility (GTL). The project has been uncertain for quite some time now and there have been many hurdles along the way, but it appears now that NiQuan has the green light to proceed.
Weeks after the announcement of an eighth find in Guyana by Exxon and the addition of a third drillship to the drilling programme, SBM Offshore has announced that it has received another contract for a second floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit.
The much anticipated Angelin platform has arrived in Trinidad and Tobago. Angelin, which will be BPTT’s 15th offshore platform, was fabricated in Altamira, Mexico. Construction of the topside and jacket was completed at Altamira and sailed on June 30th. The platform arrived at the end of July.
Petrotrin is and will continue to dominate the news. And for good reason. We must keep asking ourselves how we got where we are. Why Petrotrin – the company supposed to be our crown jewel – ended up in such dire situation. And how we can prevent more joining the same fate as Petrotrin’s refinery, the Arcelor steel plant, the idle platform production sites in La Brea and many other abandoned or underutilised manufacturing sites across the islands.
The Petrotrin Point-a-Pierre refinery has been a major customer for many of the service companies and contractors who make up the membership of the Energy Chamber. A recent survey of over 400 companies who have been certified to work as contractors in the energy sector has revealed that 59% of these companies have provided goods and/or services to the refinery over the last 5 years. Thirty-nine percent of them currently provide goods and/or services.
Italy based contractor, Saipem has been awarded contracts for the second phase of the ExxonMobil led Liza development offshore Guyana. These contracts are in addition to those awarded to Saipem in 2017 for Liza Phase 1.
BHP has reported that they have encountered hydrocarbons at Bongos-2. The well was spud on July 22nd 2018 and was drilled using the Deepwater Invictus.
