Petrotrin: Gas rising at Soldado

Working to boost the company’s gas inventories, Trinmar recently commissioned an Energy Solutions Group (ESG) to conduct a three-month gas reserve study for the entire Soldado Field area. This is the first extensive gas study to be conducted by Trinmar, according to PetroConnect, an in-house publication of Petrotrin. The ESG group, which comprised Trinmar technical leader, Egbert Waterman and ESG technical leader, Belkis Refunjol, executed an integrated multi-disciplinary study to characterise gas reserves in selected areas. Their findings were presented during a meeting with a number of Petrotrin and Trinmar Executives at the Trinmar Point Fortin headquarters on August 8, Petrotrin said. After a brief summary of the work conducted in the fields, Refunjol concluded that at a reasonable-normal risk of 60 percent - 70 percent, the group had estimated that additional gas volumes on the Soldado Field could be approximately 160bcf while total recoverable reserves were nearer to 130bcf.

“Based on the evaluations we have conducted, it looks like it’s worth it to go and study the rest of the area,” she said. “Up to 130bcf of gas can be added to current reserves, but only if additional detailed reservoir characterisation is done.” The best hydrocarbon volumes were found in the South West area of the Field. “We needed to find gas that is not committed, not associated with oil and not tied up with one of our other joint ventures,” Imtiaz Ali explained. “We decided to look at Trinmar because we saw some indication of productivity from a few dry gas wells that Trinmar had drilled and we thought that by following up those indicators we would be able to identify sufficient reserves.”

The study is part of a drive to locate gas which can be dedicated to a gas-to-liquids project currently being assessed for implementation at the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery. “This first part, identification, has piqued our interest and we will now pursue the gas reserves in Trinmar more vigorously,” he said. The company, he said, has taken the strategic decision to deepen its participation in gas, “and this really serves to identify gas reserves which we will use to boost our inventories.” He said, “If not used for the gas-to-liquids project, these reserves could still help us in our strategic thrust to move from where we are to a 50 percent production ratio for gas. “It will take a little bit of effort to try and find the reserves,” Allan Russell said, adding that the study needs some further analysis.”