Oil company BP has obtained first gas from its Matapal project, located off Trinidad.
BP stated that this milestone was achieved by its bp Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT) unit ahead of schedule and under budget, despite constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Matapal is bpTT’s second subsea development. It consists of three wells, which connect to the existing Juniper platform, helping to minimize development costs and the associated carbon footprint. It is located about 80 km off the southeast coast of Trinidad and about 8 km east of Juniper, at a water depth of 163 meters. Production from the Juniper project commenced in August 2017.
Matapal will supply gas to the Trinidad gas market from resources discovered by the Savannah exploration well drilled in 2017. Initial production from this development is expected to be in the range of 250-350 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd), once all wells are fully on stream.
Claire Fitzpatrick, president of bpTT, said, “Natural gas will play an important role in Trinidad and Tobago’s energy transition and economy for decades to come. As such, our bpTT team has worked diligently to safely commission our Matapal project, which we have successfully achieved under budget and ahead of schedule.”
BP sanctioned the Matapal project, along with the Cassia Compression project, in December 2018. Fabrication work on Matapal began in 2019. The project required modification of the existing Juniper platform, as well as construction and installation of new subsea equipment. Most of the fabrication work required to adapt the Juniper platform to the new production was completed locally. Hydrocarbons from Matapal will be transported to the Juniper platform via two 9 km flexible flowlines.
Less than two months ago, the giant semi-submersible heavy lift vessel Thialf installed the Cassia compression platform for bpTT. The platform deck was installed in 2020. The next step of the project involves the hook-up and commissioning of the platform.
The Cassia C platform will enable bpTT to access and produce low-pressure gas reserves from currently producing reservoirs in the Greater Cassia area, thereby maximizing recovery from these existing resources.
