Trinidad and Tobago's Deepwater Drilling Saga

Abstract Trinidad and Tobago is endowed with abundant oil and gas reserves both onshore and offshore. Most of the reserves offshore have been found in the shallow water shelf area. Over the last couple of years exploring the deep waters beyond the shelf (>1000 meters) has been looked at with much anticipation. However, the eight (8) wells drilled thus far have not found hydrocarbons in commercial quantities. It is important to note however, that many geo-scientists believe the exploration work in the deepwater proved the existence of a working hydrocarbon system. The drilling phase of the exploration activities in the deepwater blocks (i.e Blocks 25(a), 25(b), 26 and 27) produced many challenges. This paper will look at the major problems, risks and uncertainties encountered during the drilling of these wells and highlight key learnings that would be useful for further drilling in the deep and ultra deep waters off Trinidad and Tobago. The major well objectives will be perused to determine if these were actually attained. Results showed that some of the wells were unable to reach their technical objectives. As a result the actual number of days and cost for some wells were less than originally planned.