WET DREAMS

"There’s a high degree of risk involved, the greatest of which is that we could come up dry," admitted Des Norris, Talisman’s Country Manager for Trinidad. "The prize is to find a reservoir in the Cretaceous."

The Cretaceous represents a geological age — the Mesozoic Era, during which chalk was formed and the dinosaurs died out. It is a depth that remains unexplored in Trinidad and Tob-ago. Most of the oil and gas produced here comes from younger rock of tertiary age.

For Talisman, it is an undertaking that is financially and technologically challenging. Under its licence the company, a subsidiary of Canadian-based Talisman Energy, is committed to drilling three exploration wells at a cost of well over US$10 million per well.

"We’re looking for a big target and we’re cautiously optimistic," said Norris of the project which will get into the drilling phase early next month.

However, the project is dogged by controversy. Bribery allegations raised by PNM Councillor and businessman Dansam Dhansook, who was fired as a subcontractor on the seismic surveys conducted in advance of the drilling, has thrust Talisman and the project into the spotlight in an unexpected and negative way.

Members of the opposition United National Con-gress (UNC) have threatened to report the company to Canadian authorities and are calling for an investigation into the Talisman’s TT operations.

The seismic programme, conducted from January 2003 to April 2004, was one of the biggest of its kind ever done in this country. According to Norris, it was a low impact survey to minimise any environmental effects.

At one point more than 1,000 people, many of them coming from the surrounding Nariva/Mayaro communities, were employed on the project. It was tough work, involving lengthy treks through heavily forested areas to the Talisman site. Workers carried up to 80 pounds of equipment on their backs.

To minimise damage to the area, water buffaloes were used to transport heavier pieces of equipment. Even though the project is being overshadowed by the Dhan-sook controversy, Talisman’s personnel are forging ahead with drilling plans.

A site, for instance, is being prepared west of Point Radix, just off the Rio Claro/Mayaro main road, where drilling of the first well, "Zaboca," is set to start on July 1. The site is approximately seven kilometres outside the environmentally sensitive Bush Bush sanctuary in Nariva.

The area of focus for Talisman is approximately 400 square kilometres, a substantial piece of TT’s onshore blocks.

Data so far obtained during the 3D seismic survey looks promising, Norris said.

"It gives us a much clearer picture of what is under there. We can get a good idea of the structure of the earth," he said of the technology which is relatively new to TT.

"We have an exploration and production licence which defines the area in which we are allowed to operate. Because the wells will be so deep, a lot of planning has had to go into this project and we have had to get approvals from several agencies at every phase, including the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), WASA, Town and Country Planning and the Ministry of Energy.

"With onshore programmes there are a lot of land, mineral and contract issues," Norris explained.

All indications are that Talisman will be involved in TT’s energy sector for the long term. The company, which has been operating in this country since 1995, started off as the non-operator partner with BHP Billiton in offshore projects in the Greater Angostura Field.

In 2002, the company became involved in the Eastern Block as an operator. Their partner is state-owned oil company, Petrotrin.

It was at that point that Talisman established its subsidiary company here and set up an office.

Norris, who is British, fondly recalls the early days when Talisman (Trinidad) Petro-leum Limited was "one man in a hotel room." The company has grown considerably since then and is now based on the top floor of the Albion Plaza Energy Centre in Port-of-Spain. The staff now numbers 24, most of them locals. Norris is one of the five expatriate members of staff.