Touchstone Exploration’s Casadura gas project is moving closer to start-up after major compression equipment arrived at the Point Lisas port from Houston.
The equipment will be used at the company’s Casadura facility in the Ortoire Block, Rio Claro, where gas output is expected to rise from about 10 million standard cubic feet per day to close to 20 million standard cubic feet per day. Some of the components are more than 50 feet long and 15 feet high, reflecting the scale of the installation now under way.
The project is expected to come on stream by June. Its main role will be to support pressure along the National Gas Company-operated 20-inch pipeline from Biche to Guayaguayare and the Point Lisas Industrial Estate.
Local company Ramps Logistics Limited handled the shipment. Its work included shorebase management and freight forwarding services, showing the local supply chain role attached to the project as it moves from equipment delivery towards installation and commissioning.
The Casadura expansion is part of a wider push to improve gas production and supply stability in Trinidad and Tobago. According to recent comments from the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, gas production and delivery have become more stable after a difficult period for the sector. Output was said to have increased from around 52,000 to 65,000 barrels per day, while the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago recorded its highest profit in 11 years at $3.2 billion.
ExxonMobil is carrying out what was described as the largest seismic data acquisition exercise ever undertaken in Trinidad and Tobago. The programme is about 60% complete and is expected to finish in August. The Government also pointed to interest from Chevron and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, suggesting that larger international energy companies are again looking more closely at the country’s resource base.
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.
