ChevronTexaco Corp. and BG Group, which jointly operate some wells offshore Trinidad and Tobago, confirmed last week that their Manatee 1 exploration well has encountered “significant” amounts of natural gas.

Manatee 1, drilled in 299 feet of water, is ChevronTexaco’s first operated well in Trinidad and Tobago waters and lies on trend to the northwest of the company’s Loran Field discoveries in Venezuela. The well encountered six gas sand intervals for a total gross thickness of 899 feet and is currently under test. The drilling of the well began Jan. 14, and reached its total measured depth ahead of schedule.

“This discovery and its significance to Trinidad and Tobago is further evidence of how the country continues to maintain and expand its leadership position in delivering, and growing, its liquefied natural gas (LNG) business,” said John Watson, president of ChevronTexaco Overseas Petroleum.

Chevron and BG already are contracted to deliver 80 MMcf/d of gas from Trinidad to Southern LNG’s Elba Island regasification terminal in Georgia beginning in 2005 and continuing through 2023 (see NGI, Sept. 2, 2002).

London-based BG Group, which announced 4Q and full-year 2004 results last Tuesday, said the Atlantic LNG Train 4 in Trinidad is set to become operational by the end of 2005, supplied by its Dolphin field. Reserves at Dolphin have almost trebled from 1.1 Tcf of initial reserves in 1996 to 2.9 Tcf of initial reserves today.

BG plans to extend its position as the leading Atlantic Basin LNG player, and is now enhancing its U.S. market supply hubs, including the Cypress pipeline project, which will connect Elba Island to the high value markets in Georgia and north Florida. BG is already working on options in its current portfolio to expand its LNG capacity from its current 21 million tons a year to 35-40 million tons a year by the middle of the next decade.

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