Trinidad
Recent Update
January 2012
Partnership Agreement In Trinidad
The company has signed an agreement with Leni Gas & Oil plc ("LGO") to jointly develop interests in the Eastern Fields Area; onshore southern Trinidad including Goudron and Beach Marcelle fields.
November 2011
Increase in Proved (P1) Reserves in Trinidad by 490% from 2.6 Mmbbls to 15.4 Mmbbls
This increase in reserves follows the recently completed engineering studies of secondary recovery potential in the Company's Beach Marcelle Block. Range, through its wholly owned subsidiary Los Bajos Oil Limited will seek all necessary approvals to commence development early 2012 and commit to a $12m development program over the next 12-18 months.
Overview
In April 2011 Range reached an agreement for 100 percent ownership of production licences for three blocks in producing onshore oilfields in Trinidad and a major local drilling company. The agreement was finalised in June 2011.
The production acreage and operating wells cover the Morne Diablo, Beach Marcelle and South Quarry oilfields, with the total acreage covering 16,253 gross acres on the southern coast onshore Trinidad. Current production from the fields is 700 bopd, however Range believes a minimal work program could lift production to more than 4,000 bopd within 36 months on the known reserves.
In addition to the two subsidiaries holding production licences for the onshore acreage, which owns five onshore drill rigs, three production rigs, one swab rig and a full workshop and pipe yard, storage tanks and facilities.
The company is planning to use company-owned drilling rigs and equipment and, with cashflow from existing production, is expected to be self-sufficient (other than a significant initial working capital injection of which Range will be carried) in its forward program which aims to increase the production to 4,000 bopd within 36 months from known reserves without taking into account any exploration upside.
In addition to the known reserves, significant potential exists in the deeper Herrera Formation (refer below). The Deeper Herrera Formation will be a primary target of future drilling using company-owned drilling rigs, which are capable of reaching the depth of these formations. (approx. 100 mmbbl potential)
Trinidad Reserve Estimate*
Category | Oil (Mmbbl) | Undiscounted CF | PV 10 CF |
|---|---|---|---|
1P | 2.6 | 169 | 121 |
1P-2P | 4.8 | 326 | 206 |
1P-3P | 6.9 | 487 | 264 |
Prospective Resources | 19.9 | 1,473 | 600 |
Beach Marcelle Waterflood | |||
1P | 12.8 | 529 | 289 |
Total | 39.6 | 2,489 | 1,153 |
Technical overview of assets
- Location of License areas ‐ onshore Trinidad
Historical and current oil production is from the Forest and Cruse Formations which are shallow fluvio deltaic reservoirs with Proved plus Probable plus Possible Reserves (3P) of 20 million barrels of oil (MMbo) (Forest A. Garb & Associates report1).
Recently the 1P reserves were increased by 490% to 15.4Mmbbls following the recently completed engineering studies of secondary recovery potential in the Company's Beach Marcelle Block.
- Beach Marcelle: Pre Acquisition Assessment
Significant potential exists in the deeper Herrera Formation. The Herrera Formation is a Miocene-aged deepwater turbidite. Production is typically found in the northeast to southwest thrusted structures to the east and north of the subject acreage, where the Penal field has produced more than 60 MMbo to date. 3D Seismic was used to identify prospective drilling locations in the license area that have a further undiscovered oil potential of 100 MMbl.
The Deeper Herrera Formation will be a target of future drilling using company-owned drilling rigs, which have the capability to reach these formations.
An independent recoverable reserves assessment by Forrest A. Garb & Associates1 has provided the following certified Reserves and Resources for the 3 blocks.
An initial 21 multi well program targeting production to increase to 1,400-1,800 bopd which will then be continued.
Initial Drilling Program Summary:
- 21 Wells to be drilled utilising 3 of the Company’s drilling rigs
- Wells to target 3 depth horizons:
- 12 wells – approx. 1,000ft – targeting production 15-30+ bopd per well
- 6 wells – approx. 2,000ft – targeting production 50-100+ bopd per well
- 3 wells – approx. 6,500ft – targeting production 100-150+ bopd per well
- Targeting 800 – 1,400 bbls / day increase in production
Geological Background
- Structural cross section of the main field
Geologically, Trinidad lies on the South American tectonic plate and falls within the Orinoco Fold Belt which is a prolific oil producer in adjacent Venezuela some 14km to the southwest. The area is recognised as a world‐class petroleum province with over 3 billion barrels of oil produced to date and current production in the order of 100,000 bopd.
The Morne Diablo, South Quarry and Beach Marcelle licences are all within a complex thrust belt, with surface expression known as the Southern Range. The Southern Range, which contains numerous oil seeps, stretches from west to east forming the south coast of the island. Fluvial‐deltaic sediments, ranging to tidal and wave‐dominated, characterize the shallower producing zones in the Morne Diablo and South Quarry fields.
Due to growth faulting in the Beach Marcelle area, these sands are thicker and better developed there. The Pliocene‐aged Cruse sands (orange layers in Figure 2), can be segmented into 3 different members. The Lower Cruse is productive in the area, but largely unexplored. Just above the Lower Cruse, the Middle Cruse is widespread, and is the main producer in this area. The Upper Cruse consists of nicely developed sands that offer the possibility of more localized production.
The Pliocene‐aged Forest sands (pink layers) represent the shallowest targets. Forest sands are comprised of two main oil producing members. The Lower Forest ranges from 250 to 300 meters deep, and the Shallow Forest ranges from 100 to 150 meters deep. These sands are ubiquitous, and are the shallowest most accessible targets. In the Beach Marcelle area, the Forest equivalent is called the Gros Morne formation, where the company is considering reactivation and expansion of a waterflood to increase production. The deepwater turbidite Herrera Formation (green layers) is a prolific producer to the north, and is the target of future exploration drilling on the existing licenses.
Most of the fields are simple four‐way dip structural rollover anticlines with significant closure to create multiple oil entrapment horizons. In some areas these anticlines show overturned reservoirs, thereby creating repeated reservoir intervals capable of trapping oil as shown below.
December 2011 Mining Maven
Shareholder Update 2011
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Old Park Lane Capital (March 2012)
Shabeel-1 exploration well update
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