CORRECTION: The Business Guardian–in the February 2013 Week One edition at Page 9–incorrectly attributed to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar that the Jubilee oil field would be developed within six months. In keeping with statements made at the March 29, 2012 news conference, production from one of the five appraisal wells actually began in November 2012 and is flowing at a rate of 100 to 200 barrels of oil per day, as the article correctly states. The article also suggested incorrectly that Petrotrin president Khalid Hassanali contradicted the prime minister in speaking about the length of time for field development. Both errors are regretted.
State-owned Petrotrin expects it will take two to three years to develop its cluster six heavy oil field, according to the company president Khalid Hassanali.
In a telephone interview on Tuesday, Hassanali told the Business Guardian the plan was to use the oil discovered in the Jubilee field to assist in the production of the heavy oil that is known to exist in the cluster six block.
"The plan is to develop the heavy oil. The reason we described the Jubilee discovery as a new discovery is because we found light oil, 31 degrees API, below the heavy oil that we already knew existed, and so we believe that the light oil could be used to help produce the heavy oil that is in the cluster six block."
Hassanali said the reason it will take between two to three years to have the oil flowing from cluster six was because there is significant infrastructure to put in place.
He said, "The reality is that we have to drill the wells and put production platforms in place as well as build the pipelines for the oil to pass through. All this has to be done and you have to ensure there is a tendering process for the work. It takes time but we are making progress."
When the Jubilee discovery was first announced, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the field would develop within six months and that the production from the field would lead to significant economic improvements for citizens.
At that time, several experts in the energy sector said the Prime Minister's suggestion that the field could be developed in six months was, at best, na�ve and it would, in fact, take two to three years.
Hassanali said the first of the five wells that formed part of the Jubilee discovery continues to flow at a rate of 100 to 200 barrels of oil a day and the plan is to flow all the five appraisal wells over the next year.
"This will give us a fair idea of the size of the discovery. When you flow a well, if the production falls quickly, it tends to suggest that the size of the reservoir is small, but if the well flows and the decline is slow, then it says the reservoir is fairly substantial. Our people are very optimistic from what we have seen so far," Hassanali told the Business Guardian.
He confirmed the real reserves from cluster six and the Jubilee discovery will only be known over time when wells are drilled and production begins.
Hassanali estimates it will cost Petrotrin between $50 million and $60 million to bring the entire cluster six field into production. He noted that it was part of a $7 billion exploration and production the company recently announced.
He said the company is about to begin its drilling in southwest Soldado and the drilling campaign in cluster six will be informed by how the wells flow in cluster six and the results in southwest Soldado.
He said the company was putting together a plan with the assistance of the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs on how best to develop the company's significant heavy oil portfolio and will be in a position to make an announcement within the next three weeks.
The Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs estimate that the state-owned company has more than one billion barrels of heavy oil in place, mainly located off the southwest peninsula.
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