BPTT updates gas reserves in Columbus basin in Trinidad and Tobago

BP PLC’s Trinidad and Tobago operations have at least 12.578 tcf of 3P natural gas reserves in its Columbus basin, according to figures revealed in the Caribbean twin-island nation’s Natural Gas Master Plan (NGMP).

The plan was recently laid in Trinidad and Tobago’s Parliament and is expected to guide public policy in the sector. It marks the first time that BPTT has published its reserves in the Columbus basin as the company has always insisted that it will not comment on its reserves position.

According to the NGMP, which was prepared from the government by consultants Poten & Partners, BPTT has 6.728 tcf in proved reserves, 2.969 tcf in probable reserves, and 2.881 tcf in probable reserves. It also holds another 5.597 tcf in identified exploration resources.

“The Columbus basin is one of the larger gas provinces in the western hemisphere to be developed over the last few decades,” the NGMP said. Major gas fields include Immortelle, Cassia, Mahogany, Flamboyant, Amherstia, Corallita, Kapok, and Mango. The Tobago basin contains Hibiscus, Poinsettia and Chalconia fields, the report said. In addition to the potential 19.175 tcf of natural gas still left in the basin it has already produced 15 tcf of gas and more than 1 billion bbl of oil.

It must be noted that the report was done prior to BPTTs announcement earlier this year of a 2 tcf discovery in its Savannah and Macademia exploration wells.

The NGMP also noted that Royal Dutch Shell PLC, with its acquisition of BG Group and Centrical, now holds 7.158 tcf of 3P reserves and could potentially hold more exploration potential than BPTT with an estimated 13.962 tcf of identified exploration resources.

The report raised concern that there is limited competition in the upstream supply of gas with four major players and several small producers.

“The major producer is BPTT, which holds 60% of the total gas production and presently holds about 55% of the proved reserves,” the report said.