Trinidad and Tobago Oil and Gas Report Q3 2012 Published : July 2012
No. of Pages : 81
Price:US$1175
Times are tough for Trinidad & Tobago’s oil and gas industry, with 2011 oil output having slumped, and US demand for the country’s gas exports on the slide. The government expects an upturn in 2012 drilling activity and, with several new smaller international oil companies (IOCs) now involved as well as a 2012 deepwater bidding round, there is scope to slow the rate of decline in oil production. The main trends and developments we highlight in the Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) Oil and Gas sector are: 1.Upstream companies operating in T&T will invest US$3bn in oil and gas exploration activities over 2012, Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine said in February 2012. Some 15 exploration wells will be drilled, mainly by Canada-based companies Parex Resources and Niko Resources and by BP, he said. Five drilling rigs are currently operating in the country, with six seismic programmes continuing or starting in 2012. 2.BP Trinidad and Tobago (BPTT) plans to spend US$1.1bn in 2012, which will include seismic surveys of its existing acreage, its president said at an energy conference in T&T in February. 3.Bayfield Energy made discovery in T&T’s Galeota block in March. Preliminary estimates extrapolated from the first well indicate that the area could hold 32mn barrels of oil, with potential for production greater than 1,000 barrels per day (b/d). 4.A new deepwater licensing round was launched in April 2012 for six offshore oil and gas blocks in northeastern and eastern Trinidad. The bidding round will close on July 30 and the winners will be announced by the end of October this year. 5.T&T’s government signed production sharing agreements with BPTT and BG Group for deepwater blocks in the Atlantic in May 2012. 6.We estimate that crude oil and gas liquids production fell by almost 24% in 2011 largely due to maintenance activity and unexpected field disruptions. There should be some recovery in 2012, but the overall trend is one of falling output unless substantial investment can unlock new volumes. We are forecasting supply of 137,500b/d in 2012, easing to 126,500b/d by 2016. Output could be no more than 111,000b/d by 2021. Given demand is set to rise from an estimated 43,700b/d to 67,810b/d over the period, net exports by 2021 are set to be just 42,700b/d. 7.The short- to medium-term outlook for the country’s gas sector is somewhat more positive, as T&T will remain an important regional liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter. Gas production is forecast to rise from a projected 43.5bn cubic metres (bcm) in 2012 to 47.0bcm in 2015-2016 as new projects come onstream. However, with US purchases in decline and plenty of gas market competition, the volume of gas sold remains unpredictable. That said, we believe exports should be around 20-21bcm throughout the forecast period. 8.By 2016, T&T’s oil and gas exports are set to yield US$14.0bn, falling towards US$11.5bn by 2021 as oil export volumes are reduced and gas sales volumes remain fairly constant. At the time of writing we assume an OPEC basket oil price for 2012 of US111.47/bbl, falling to US$107.00/bbl in 2013. Global GDP in 2012 is forecast at 2.6%, down from our estimate of 3.1% in 2011, reflecting a slowdown in China and significant uncertainty with regard to the eurozone debt situation. For 2013, growth is estimated at 3.3%. Trinidad and Tobago Oil and Gas Industry Q3 2012 Table of Content BMI Industry View . 5 SWOT Analysis 7 Trinidad & Tobago Oil and Gas SWOT . 7 Global Energy Market Outlook 8 Table: Oil Production Forecasts, 2010-2016 (’000 b/d) 8 Table: Oil Consumption Forecast, 2010-2016 (’000 b/d) . 14