Page 12 - LatAmOil Week 03 2021

LatAmOil TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO LatAmOil

BHP used the Deepwater Invictus to drill the Broadside-1 well (Photo: Transocean)

It has not found oil in any of these wells, but it BHP declined to comment on the matter.
has encountered some natural gas and gas con- Krishna Persad, one of Trinidad and Toba-
densate. To date, though, these discoveries have go’s leading geologists, said last October that he
not been large enough to support investment in hoped the Australian company would continue
deepwater drilling. its work in the Southern Licences, as the sites
The company had originally been expected have the potential to contain large reserves. He
to drill Broadside-1 to a depth of around 6,100 also acknowledged, though, that every explora-
metres, making it the deepest shaft ever sunk off- tion project ran the risk of failure.
shore Trinidad and Tobago. BHP’s second-half “The reality is that in exploration you have
report makes it clear, though, that drilling con- a 30, maybe 40% chance of success, and there-
tinued for nearly 1,000 metres more, without fore seven of every 10 wells you drill will be a
any positive results. dry hole. BHP had a tremendous run of success
It also represents confirmation of local press in the Northern Licence closer to Barbados, but
reports that first raised the possibility that the that is not always replicated,” he told the Trini-
well was a dry hole in late October. At the time, dad & Tobago Guardian. ™

GUYANA
Hassa-1 well a disappointment

for ExxonMobil and partners

THE US super-major ExxonMobil has report- “This serves as a reminder that geologic[al]
edly experienced a disappointment at the risk is inherent to frontier oil and gas explora-
Stabroek block offshore Guyana. tion activities,” she commented. “Nonetheless,
According to Janelle Persaud, ExxonMobil ExxonMobil remains committed to evaluating
Guyana’s advisor for public and government the potential in our offshore Guyana blocks
affairs, the latest well drilled at the block did not using our world-class technology and technical
encounter any crude oil or natural gas within its capabilities.”
primary target layers. The US giant and its partners estimate the
“The Hassa-1 exploration well in the recoverable reserves of the Stabroek block at
Stabroek block did not encounter hydrocarbons around 9bn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and
in the primary target reservoirs,” she was quoted expect this figure to rise as exploration work
as saying by OilNOW last week. continues. They have already found crude oil
Persaud also noted that there had been in no less than 18 sections of Stabroek, and
hydrocarbon shows in other intervals of Hassa-1 started production at the first discovery, Liza-
but did not provide further details. “[The] well 1, in December 2019. (Additionally, they have
did encounter hydrocarbons in other intervals,” also drilled two dry wells – Skipjack-1 and
she stated. Sorubim-1.)
She went on to say that this disappoint- Hassa-1 lies about 48 km east of Liza-1 and
ment did not detract from Stabroek’s promise. was sunk with the Noble Don Taylor drillship.

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 03 21•January•2021