40 Million Barrels of Oil Boosts Trinidad’s Energy Sector

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — Spanish oil company Repsol has announced the discovery of 40 million barrels of oil in its Trinidad and Tobago offshore acreage.

This oil is already in production and is adding to overall national oil output. The latest 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.

These discoveries are based 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.

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.

According to Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine, in the past four years, the government has created an enabling environment for this level of investment through the introduction of a suite of fiscal incentives for companies operating in the oil and gas industry.

At present there are eight rigs working in the waters of Trinidad and Tobago. This compares to one rig working in Trinidad and Tobago’s waters in mid-2010. Two of these eight rigs are currently working under Repsol.

 

Source caribbeannewsnow.com

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