BP Amoco's recent discovery of three trillion cubic feet of gas in The Red Mango Well, 35 miles of the southeast coast of Galeota Point, has been billed as "the largest oil and gas discovery in the history of Trinidad and Tobago." Many are the statistics quoted by both the print and electronic media in increases to the national reserves and to last year's contribution of oil along with gas to the country's total foreign exchange revenue, not to mention the new industries which will ensure that we take advantage of the full potential of our hydrocarbon reserves, as we seek to convert our natural gas resources into real wealth.
Last week, commuters around the Queen's Park Savannah were immediately attracted to the red banners draped outside the old Queen's Park Hotel, now beautifully rebuilt as the home of the international oil conglomerate BP Amoco, proudly displaying the Red Mango find of three trillion cubic feet of hydrocarbon.
What normal mind is able to quantify the equivalent of three trillion cubic feet. My nephew explained "1000 billion equals one trillion." Like most ordinary human beings I found it difficult to think further than one billion. How did BP manage this large find when there are other companies carrying out exploration in the waters which surround Trinidad. It is reported that with a 90% success rate because of the use of superior technology, BP Amoco's record of finding is one of the best in the world.
Like many other oil companies, BP Amoco submits competitive bids when the government of Trinidad and Tobago puts up offshore blocks for bids. The award is made to the best bidder based on certain criteria, such as, the capability of the company or value of the bid compared to others. The government will either lease under a tax and royalty agreement which is associated with what you produce, or under the newer production and sharing contract to which government has moved in recent times. History indicates that many previous oil companies did not stick it out, Amoco did and drilled many 'dry holes' before its first discovery in the early 70's.
As far back as 1961, the South East Galeota Block in which the Red Mango well is located, was awarded to Amoco, and while Red Mango is the most recent find, BP continues to bring on stream earlier exploration finds, such as, the recent installation of the Amherstia platform - one of the largest in the company's global organisation, with a capacity of 825 million cubic feet per day.
But since it is to the Red Mango that every citizen of this country has recently been looking with hopes for great economic salvation, I asked what are the steps to be followed before this find can be of financial benefit to the man in the street.
I learned from a reliable company source that typically the processes to final production could take three to four years. How quickly the Red Mango comes into production is a function of how quickly Amoco gets approval from the government to sell the gas which requires a lot of planning and marketing strategy.
Although BP Amoco has completed the exploration phase in the Red Mango and found hydrocarbon (oil and gas), there are still many stages to be dealt with, since in the phases from exploration to appraisal to production many different activities take place including finding markets, engineering work, building and installation of production facilities which will include pipelines and platform. Of course there can be no production unless markets are identified.
Like in any previously unexplored area, the first step in the Red Mango's exploration stage was done through a seismic survey- detonations are set off which send sound waves into the ground, these reflected waves are recorded, processed and interpreted so that the structures below the earth which contain oil and gas can be identified. However, there is substantial risk involved and hydrocarbon will not be found in every well so the latest technology and tools have to be carefully utilised to ensure that the likelihood of finding oil or gas is higher.
On the subject of "condensate", which seems to have already caused some confusion through miscommunication of the facts, the Red Mango structure contains what is called wet gas - that is gas, which at great depth below the earth's surface is under high pressures and temperatures and exists as gas only, but which when it comes to surface separates into liquid (condensate) a very light oil of a very high quality, and gas.
In oil reservoirs you could produce oil without gas but to get this high quality oil "condensate" you must produce gas to get to the liquid. There is a wide spectrum of oil from the very viscous oil of the pitch lake up to condensate which is the separation of gas and liquid at the surface and the liquid is called "condensate" because it condenses (like steam) out of the gas that is produced.