Trinidad and Tobago Discover new reserves of Oil in shallow water - God is indeed a Trini and Jamaica courts them for LNG again

It looks like “God is indeed a Trini” as President has declared. This as the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has discovered Oil as noted in the article “Trinidad makes major Oil discovery” published Sunday April 1, 2012, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Ironically, this discovery was in 60m of shallow water in the midst of an aggressive push by the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to encourage more Deep Water Drilling of the East coast and the North coast of both Trinidad and Tobago.

According to the article, the fortuitous discovery was made by State-owned Oil company, PETROTRIN in the Gulf of Paria four (4) miles west of Point Fortin in 60 feet of water. The newly discovered well with an estimated 48 million barrels of crude in such shallow waters is a lucky break, after PETROTRIN had spent quite some time aggressively searching for Oil.

This is quite a turnaround from two (2) years ago when the Government of Trinidad and Tobago had declared that they only had ten (10) years of Oil left as state in the article “Ten years left of LNG in T&T”, published Friday, July 16, 2010 BY RENUKA SINGH, The Jamaica Observer. Back then, I had pointed out that this was in light of their promise to supply Jamaica with LNG and recent discoveries that Jamaica may soon find Oil in our coastal waters as stated in my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and Trinidad and Tobago - Strange encounters of the Third Kind”.

PETROTRIN's president-designate, Khalid Hassanali states that the discovery, which comes some three (3) weeks after a another Oilfield with some  32 million barrels of crude Oil was found by Bayfield, mostly consists of a mixture of heavy and light crude oils. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has a 35 % equity stake in the block Bayfield made the discoveries and operates in, so it’s win-win for them.

As PETROTRINI specializes in making Refined Oil Products, this mix of different types of Oil in the Gulf of Paria is a boon to the State-owned Oil Refinery, quote: "We have a combination of heavy Oil, which is very viscous and the lighter Oil. The lighter Oil can be used to dilute the heavy Oil so when you make that type of combination, you get a new composite crude. We are at a stage where the refinery is a lot more versatile, where the appetite for crude input and the ability to manufacture the types of products that the world and the Caribbean and local economy can take".

With PETROTRINI's Refining capacity standing at 150,000 barrels per day and 50,000 barrels of Oil that comes from local fields, this local find will help to eliminate the 100,000 barrels of Oil that was being was imported for refining into final products.

And there more Oil to be found! Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine expressed optimism that there is more Oil laying yet to be discovered in deeper waters in East and North Cost of Trinidad and Tobago, quote: “There are many who believe the deeper horizons on land particularly below 6,000 feet could hold tremendous potential for this country of an entire new Oil province which we never really tapped into”.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar bubbles enthusiastic with the discoveries of additional Oil mean for the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, quote: “As a result of the jubilee discovery by PETROTRIN as a state- owned company, decisions can be made faster and easier and you can be assured there will be no squandering of these very precious resources but every penny derived will go towards genuine people-centred development in several areas. So what does it now mean for the man in the street, for the citizen of Trinidad and Tobago? In a phrase if I would sum it, I would say better times in the best of initiatives that will benefit you the citizen of Trinidad and Tobago.”

Jamaica is also close to having discovered Oil as chronicled my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and Jamaica's Oil Prospects - Carletta DeLeon, The Spy who Loved Me” and “Alternative Energy and the Recent Oil Discovery in Jamaica - The Merchant of Venice”.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar words, therefore, is the kind of forward-thinking sentiment that Jamaica’s current PNP-led administration could do well to remember when it comes to the use of money from any Oil discovered in Jamaica as pointed out in my blog article entitled “Bruce Golding, Corruption in the PCJ and the search for Oil”.

The depth of this latest Oil finds is in shallow water. This is good as production can begin in a matter of weeks as opposed to months in the case of Deep Water Wells. But more importantly, it means that the People’s Republic of Trinidad and Tobago can not only continue their push towards Vision 2020, but can also supply Jamaica with the LNG we had asked them for back in 2006AD as chronicled in my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and LNG -  Is Energy Sector Liberalization necessary”.