A deepened descent beneath southern Trinidad has reframed expectations, as an extended trajectory revealed a substantial lifeline where pre-drill models hinted at far less.
Touchstone’s latest operation on the Cascadura prospect delivered a nuanced glimpse of the reservoir’s true extent. On 4 June 2025, the Cascadura-5 development well was spudded using Star Valley Drilling Rig 205. Over a disciplined 22-day campaign, operators pushed the bit to 7 020 feet, 366 feet beyond the original plan, after mud logs and cuttings signalled persistent hydrocarbon saturation at depth.
The primary target lay within the Herrera Gr7bc sand packages, a series of thrust-sheet reservoirs that had previously yielded encouraging results in Cascadura-2. In Cascadura-5’s open-hole logs, those sands presented in far greater thickness, with approximately 620 feet of gross sand encountered. Critically, these intervals sat around 300 feet updip from the earlier discovery, implying that the recoverable resource could extend well beyond the originally mapped boundary.
Field engineers recognised the opportunity to deepen on the back of continuous hydrocarbon indicators in both drill-cuttings and mud-logging data. Rather than merely test the planned 6 654 foot depth, they elected to press on, confident that the extended section would reward the incremental cost and time. This decision underscores a new willingness to adapt in real time, rather than strictly adhere to pre-defined programmes.
Operational finesse was another defining feature of this campaign. The well was executed on schedule and within a field-estimated budget of US$5 million. This discipline owes much to improvements in drilling technique, including the deployment of synthetic oil-based mud and managed pressure drilling, that minimised non-productive time and forestalled wellbore issues previously encountered in the area. In an environment where each rig day can carry a seven-figure price tag, the efficiency gains speak directly to Touchstone’s evolving execution capabilities.
With the rig now freed, attention turns next door to the Cascadura-4 well, currently suspended at 3 200 feet and awaiting completion funds. Plans call for a similar depth of around 6 500 feet, targeting the same Herrera reservoirs. Once both wells are brought online, they will be tied into the existing Cascadura gas-processing facility, utilising equipment already on site. This seamless tie-in strategy could accelerate initial gas flows, potentially lifting combined production towards several thousand boe per day in short order.
Of course, the story remains unfinished until Cascadura-4 sees final casing and hook-up. The success of Cascadura-5 sharpens the imperative to secure the remaining placing commitments, without which the rig will sit idle and deliverable volumes will remain untapped. Investors will need to assess this funding pivot carefully, mindful that the window to translate geological promise into cash flow can be narrow in frontier plays.
For those with an appetite for calculated exploration risk, Cascadura offers an asymmetric proposition. The balance of probabilities now tilts in favour of a larger resource base, hinted at by the updip expansion and thickened sand sections. Yet execution risk and capital access remain defining variables. If Touchstone can leverage these recent gains to shore up financing, the pathway to sustained gas production in Trinidad becomes markedly clearer.
In a sector increasingly pressed to replenish dwindling reserves, discoveries of this nature resonate with long-term portfolios. They demonstrate that even mature basins can conceal untapped value when operators combine fresh seismic interpretation, agile drilling decisions and disciplined cost control. With Cascadura-5’s outcome in hand, the Ortoire block’s Cascadura structure has entered a new chapter, one that may yet redefine Touchstone’s role in Trinidad’s gas renaissance.
Touchstone Exploration Inc (LON:TXP) is a Canadian-based, international upstream oil and gas company currently active in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Primera Oil and Gas is the Trinidadian subsidiary of Touchstone.
