PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The Trinidad and Tobago government Tuesday said that to ensure that the country continues to play a vital role in the global energy arena, one of the key pillars of the new administration will be the re-emergence of the oil rich-twin island republic as the energy hub of the Caribbean.
Energy and Energy Industries Minister, Dr. Roodal Moonil, addressing the Society of Petroleum Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago’s (SPETT) 2025 Mature Basin Energy Symposium (CMC Photo)Addressing the Society of Petroleum Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago’s (SPETT) 2025 Mature Basin Energy Symposium, Energy and Energy Industries Minister, Dr. Roodal Moonil, said while it is no secret that the country’s hydrocarbon basins are mature, having been in production since the early 20th century, that does not mean they have reached the end of their economic life.
He told the two-day symposium that is being held under the theme “Rejuvenation our Mature Fields and Basins: Driving the Next Wave,” that by applying new technologies, managing acreage, reducing costs and cultivating partnerships, “we can fully realize the potential of our mature basins” adding that the success of this approach was recently demonstrated by recent discoveries in the Teak, Samaan and Poui area which would not be possible without new seismic acquisition and interpretation.
Moonilal said that to ensure Trinidad and Tobago continues to play a vital role in the global energy arena, he is aware that one of the major obstacles to increasing oil and natural gas production is the lack of operational efficiency linked to government approvals, that companies must navigate.
“In the energy sector, time is money. A study conducted by the Energy Chamber revealed that the approval process for new upstream projects require 33 major approvals from eight ministries or agencies.”
Moonilal said government approvals are required for almost every activity and at every stage from seismic acquisition to exploration drilling to the operationalization of the Field Development Plan.
He said given the urgent need to get projects off the ground, the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries will host a National Symposium on the Ease of Doing Business in the energy sector.
“At this symposium the industry will be invited to air their concerns and to make recommendations. These recommendations will aim to de-bottleneck the approval process along the energy value chain and accelerate the development of projects in the energy sector.”
Moonilal said the successful exploration for and production of crude oil and natural gas in Trinidad and Tobago can be attributed to the upstream companies applying advanced seismic techniques such as ocean bottom cable (OBC) and ocean bottom node (OBN), machine learning and a skilled and experienced cadre of energy professionals.
He said to date the country has produced in excess of three billion barrels of oil from exploration and development activity in shallow water and on land with more than one billion barrels of oil being produced in the prolific Columbus Basin.
“While the basins have been extensively explored there still remains untapped potential. In particular, much of the deep potential and continental slope of the Columbus Basin shelf have been largely untested.”
He said that the recent oil discovery by EOG Resources and BPTT with the Beryl well affirms the potential of the Teak, Samaan and Poui (TSP) Deep Area, noting that a significant part of this area is currently under licence and it is the ministry’s intention to engage the licensees to accelerate exploration activity in the deep horizons of TSP
Moonilal said currently, there is exploration activity across all basins. On land, exploration activity is being undertaken in six blocks. At this time, the licensees are planning to acquire and process seismic data. The initial feedback in the evaluation of hydrocarbon prospects has been positive.
He said within the next 12 months, the drilling of the first of the 26 contracted exploration wells will commence with the majority of wells to be drilled within the next two to four years.
“However, the drilling programme needs to be accelerated to boost onshore oil production which has been declining. Onshore production, which amounted to 22,616 barrels per day in 2015 declined to 18,004 barrels per day in 2020 and slipped further to approximately 17,000 barrels per day in 2025. This decline will continue unless urgent action is taken,” Moonilal said.
He said in 2015, the state-owned Petrotrin’s offshore production was 21,468 barrels per day. However, Heritage, another state entity’s offshore oil production has followed the same trend as its onshore production, declining to 17,690 barrels a day in 2020 and then to 17,226 barrels a day in 2025.
“This trend needs to be reversed and accordingly the new Heritage board of directors will be mandated to the develop a strategy for increasing oil production within the earliest timeframe.”
But Moonilal said that the outlook for oil in the short to medium term is positive and that there are a number of gas fields coming onstream in the near term that are rich in condensate. He said the Mento development, the joint venture between EOG and BPTT, which delivered first gas on May 29, 2025 is projected to reach liquid peak production at a rate of 8,200 barrels per day.
Crude oil produced by Perenco from redrill workovers in the Poui field is expected to add 2,900 barrels of oil per day to the base production in early 2026. Crude oil from Heritage Offshore’s East Soldado Field Development, which is currently being drilled by Enterprise Offshore Drilling Rig 264 is also expected to add an additional 2,000 barrels of oil per day by the fourth quarter 2025.
Moonilal said the joint venture between BPTT and EOG is moving forward to expedite production from the Coconut field following the announcement of the final investment decision. The Coconut field is projected to contribute an additional 3,000 barrels of oil per day by 2027.
He said based on the current suite of projects, oil production is projected to increase in the period 2025 to 2028.
“I will stay away from giving specific numbers. As you know while we bring on new projects we are also combating natural decline which is sometimes difficult to predict,” he added
Moonilal told the symposium that as with oil, natural gas production has been on the decline.
He said in 2015, an estimated 3.8 billion cubic feet of gas was produced. Currently, gas production currently stands at 2.54 billion cubic feet per day.
“This is unacceptable. In 2025, gas supply has received a boost with the coming onstream of projects by BPTT and EOG Resources. In April, BPTT’s Cypre Phase 1 development came onstream with a peak production of 350 million standard cubic feet per day.”
He said this was followed by the delivery of first gas in May from the Mento field, a joint-venture between BPTT and EOG Resources which will produce at peak 225 million standard cubic feet per day.
Later this year BPTT will complete Phase 2 of the Cypre project. Once again, the Cypre development has demonstrated that the application of Ocean Bottom Cable (OBC) seismic in 2012 to 2013 coupled with fiscal incentives in 2014 has led to increased production. While these projects are welcomed, it must be mentioned that they would really be combatting natural decline from maturing reservoirs.
Moonilal said that over the next three years, a continuous stream of offshore projects will come on production. BPTT will bring onstream projects in 2027, namely Ginger and its joint venture with EOG Resources, Coconut.
He said these gas projects will bring onstream peak production of 600 million standard cubic feet per day. Shell has also taken a positive Final Investment Decision on its Aphrodite project in the East Coast Marine Area.
“Production is expected to begin in 2027 with peak output projected at 107 million standard cubic feet per day. Shell’s Manatee gas development is also projected to come onstream in 2027 with a 10 per cent uplift in previously forecasted volumes.
“In recognition of this target, they have reclassified this advancement as Manatee PLUS. We welcome Manatee PLUS. In light of this, we have noted with great enthusiasm, Shell’s newfound aspiration to triple gas production by 2027.”
Moonilal said that in the period 2028 to 2029, BPTT will bring on stream several gas projects. These comprise Juniper Phase 2 with a peak production of 213 million standard cubic feet per day, Matapal Phase 2 with a peak production of 99 million standard cubic feet per day and Cassia TP 61 with a peak production of 127 million standard cubic feet per day. There is also associated gas from the Beryl oil discovery which is projected to come onstream in late 2028.
He said that there are however a number of other projects for which a Final Investment Decision has not been taken.
Moonilal said that the current and upcoming gas projects will however only provide relief in the short to the medium term.
“The natural gas reserves auditors, De Golyer and Mc Naughton in the latest gas audit, advised that it would be necessary to accelerate the execution of contingent resource development projects and exploration efforts to convert prospective resources into reserves and contingent resources, to meet gas demand.
“Prospective resources at the end of 2023, were estimated at 58.25 trillion cubic feet, with 41.1 trillion cubic feet being attributed to the shallow-water region and 17.15 trillion cubic feet to the deep-water area,” Moonilal said.
