TRINIDAD - Declining oil reserves paint bleak picture

Trinidad (CMC):

A report on Trinidad and Tobago's natural gas reserves indicates that the country now has 10 years of gas left in its proven reserves.

The report by the US-based Ryder Scott Company shows that since 2000, proven natural gas reserves have declined from 19.7 billion cubic feet (bcf) to 15.4 bcf in 2008.

The data for 2009 showed reserves had declined even more, down to 14.4 bcf and probable reserves stood at 7.8 bcf and possible were 5.9 bcf of gas.

Senior petroleum engineer with the Texas-based company, Larry McHalffney said that the declining reserve figures painted a "bleak picture" of the country's oil and gas future, adding "what appears to be is not always the case.'"

McHalffney said despite the steady decline in the proven gas reserve figures over the past nine years, the country maintained a "steady, stable reserve base".

Energy Minister Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan said she was not surprised at the results of the audit.

Not surprised

"It is of no surprise to us. We anticipated these results. You would have heard us speaking to the issues many times.

"The important issue is how we address it and the plans going forward, the actions, the initiatives to be taken to address that situation," she said.

She said government is dealing with the low reserves by moving aggressively with exploration.

"We are putting a programme in place to ensure that there is continuous exploration activity," she said, noting that to satisfy the natural gas demand, Trinidad and Tobago had been tapping the reserves at a rate of 1.4 trillion cubic feet yearly.