C urrently, islands of the Caribbean basin are primarily net

energy importers (with the exception of Trinidad and

Tobago, one of the major exporters of liquefied natural

gas (LNG) in the world). Venezuela provides a sizable

amount of crude oil and refined products to their Caribbean neighbours

at below-market prices and with favorable financing terms under the

PetroCaribe agreement. Some Caribbean islands are important centres

for oil refining and storage, due to their proximity to external markets.

In recent years, there have been concerns that the continuous global

increase of oil prices will negatively affect economies of the Carib-

bean, as there is a significantly high (and still growing) dependence on

oil for energy needs. In response, the island nations have been discuss-

ing ways to promote alternative energy/oil sources to better feed their

energy sectors. There

have also been signifi-

cant investments by

international entities

garnered toward the

exploration of the off-

shore areas of the Car-

ibbean, as existing fac-

tors deem it fit to maxi-

mize on the oil potential

in the region.

MAIN PLAYERS MAIN PLAYERS MAIN PLAYERS

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago has the bulk of the Caribbean's oil production.

Most of such oil production and exploration is focused offshore. The

government has been encouraging field development onshore as well.

In 2012, the country produced approximately 82,000 barrels of oil per

day, of which 73% were produced offshore. Oil production had been

falling since the 1980s and lead-

ing to the 90s. Prices however

significantly increased a decade

later when BHP Billiton’s off-

CARIBBEAN PETROLEUM UPDATE is a monthly Bulletin which highlights petroleum issues affecting or relevant to the

Caribbean, international developments that may affect the region’s way of life and movements in oil prices and retail prices for fuel regionally.

To access CEIS website

CONTACT US

Caribbean Energy Information System

Scientific Research Council

Hope Gardens, Kingston 6, Jamaica

1-876-927-1779 (Telephone)

1-876-977-1840 (Fax)

ceis@src-jamaica.org

www.ceis-caribenergy.org continued on page 2/

CARIBBEAN ENERGY INFORMATION SYSTEM (CEIS)

MARCH 2013 ISSUE

Oil/Natural Gas and The Potential of the Caribbean oil industry

Trinidad and

Tobago rank

5th in Natural

gas export to

the US. Image source: http://www.ecoglobe.ch/energy/e/peakoil.htm

page 2 Call: 1-876-927-1779 | Caribbean Petroleum Update : March 2013

C A R I B B E A N E N E R G Y I N F O R M A T I O N S Y S T E M ( C E I S )

shore Angostura oil and gas field came

online in January 2005. Oil producers in-

cluding the Petroleum Company of Trini-

dad and Tobago, BP Trinidad and Tobago

and BHP Billiton, in the past seven years

(2005-2012), had a steady decline in oil

production. EIA also stated that, “in 2006,

oil outputs reached nearly 178,000 bbl/d,

but production has fallen below the coun-

try’s expectation to produce 200,000 bbl/d

of crude.” According to Global Insight, “the

recent fall in output has been attributed to

maturing oil fields and operational chal-

lenges faced by some of the country’s larg-

est producers.” EIA data indicates that the

United States has been T&T’s primary cus-

tomer, with average demands of 76,000

barrels per day of crude oil and refined

products. Trinidad and Tobago consumes

an estimated 40,000 bbl/d and even though

they are major producers, the country also

imports small amounts of crude oil and

refined products.

“Trinidad and Tobago is also the largest

exporter of LNG to the United States, and

the fifth largest exporter in the world be-

hind Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and

Qatar”, according to FACTS Global Energy

2010 figures. EIA data shows that Trinidad

and Tobago exported 129 Bcf of natural gas

to the United States in 2011, about 37 per-

cent of total U.S. LNG net imports, but less

than 1 percent of total U.S. natural gas sup-

ply. For the past seven years, U.S. LNG

imports from Trinidad and Tobago have

declined by almost one-third, which reflects

a general decline in total U.S. LNG imports.

According to PFC Energy “the country may

not be able to maintain output levels

through to year 2020.

Cuba

Production in Cuba has increased from

13000 bbl/d in the 1980’s, to approximately

55,000 bbl/d making the island net import-

ers. Cuba imports from Venezuela and has

net imports amounting to approximately

116,000 barrels per day, while consumption

is over 170,000 barrels per day. Most of

Cuba's oil production occurs in the northern

Matanzas province. Much of this produc-

tion occurs onshore, though there is some

offshore production in shallow coastal wa-

ters. Cuba’s oil production seems to have

largely stabilized in the near term, amid any

additional increases in production depend-

ent upon the discovery of substantial new

reserves.

There have been huge interests to explore

Cuba's offshore basins towards the Gulf of

Mexico. According to the U.S. Geological

Survey (USGS) “the mean estimate for

undiscovered oil reserves in the North Cuba

Basin (the basin north and west of the is-

land in the Gulf of Mexico) is 4.6 billion

barrels. Cubapetroleo, or Cupet (Cuba’s

state-owned petroleum company) estimates

that all of Cuba’s offshore basins could

contain in excess of 20 billion barrels of

undiscovered oil reserves. However, actual

exploratory drilling in the area has been, to

date, quite limited”. In 2011, international

companies operating in Cuba reported that

they plan to drill five exploration wells in

ultra-deep waters of the exclusive economic

zone in the Gulf of Mexico, according to

Global Insight. Mass investment from inter-

national partners sought to the beginning of

drilling of an exploration well located in

Cuba’s exclusive zone.

International Attention

In recent years, there have been concerns

that higher global oil prices will negatively

affect the Caribbean economies, as they are

highly dependent on oil for their energy

needs. In response to the rise in prices,

Trinidad and Tobago alongside Cuba and

other island nations of the Caribbean have

began discussing ways to promote alterna-

tive energy sources and better integrate

their energy sectors. According to estimates

from Bloomberg and Oil and Gas Journal

(OGJ), “the Caribbean region has a com-

bined 1.6 million bbl/d of nominal refining

capacity.

Oil Geography

Nobody expects the Caribbean to ever

become oil or gas rich on the scale of

Venezuela. It had been known for many

years that the two broad strata of rock (of

the kind likely to bear oil), runs the length

of the Caribbean Basin. Up until the 1980’s,

little interest had been shown in this fact

apart from where such layer coincided with

island masses and this is because the high

cost and technical problems associated with

the recovery of the oil were far beyond the

value of such relatively small quantities of

crude oil. At the time, although there were

existing recovery sites in more shallow

waters that were capable of exploitation,

most geological structures of interest were

far below the Caribbean Sea. Back then,

only very few nations were observed to

have had continental shelves, most of which

dropped off to unreachable depths ranging

from 600-3000 feet.

Since then, new drilling techniques and

methods of platform construction were pro-

posed and introduced. This facilitates off-

Oil/Natural Gas and The Potential of the Caribbean oil industry ........................continued from page 1

Caribbean Petroleum Update : March 2013 | Call: 1-876-927-1779 page 3

C A R I B B E A N E N E R G Y I N F O R M A T I O N S Y S T E M ( C E I S )

shored oil exploration as drilling will now

be able to go beyond 4000ft.

The Caribbean has become strategically and

more attractive to energy investors. The

factors that contribute to this are, the possi-

bility of greater economic instability around

the world, the widening of the Panama

Canal making the Caribbean a north-south

and east-west transit a key trans-shipment

point in the Americas and the opportunity

the region's new deep sea ports and anchor-

ages offers for storage and trans-shipment.

Oil prices have now increased to levels

previously thought of as unthinkable, mak-

ing the cost of deep sea recovery viable.

Demand for energy has increased and will

continue to expand as the industrialization

and wealth of advanced economies continue

to grow. The potential contradictions such

as spills and environmental disasters have

been recognized coming from the experi-

ences in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. This

has made clear the necessity of the legal

and regulatory frameworks in all nations in

or bordering the Caribbean Sea.

The level of exploitation that is currently

taking place indicates a bright outlook for

the future of Caribbean oil. Some may say

this is far-fetched as the US and other na-

tions are beginning to supply a greater

amount of their energy needs from shale

gas and there is the high probability that

there are huge quantities of oil and gas

beneath the pristine wastes of the Canadian

Arctic. In reality, examining the pace that

the number of global oil corporations have

been investing huge amounts in hope of

getting oil and gas in the Caribbean Basin,

suggests that very soon more than just

Trinidad and Tobago will be a net exporter

of oil or gas producer. Currently, oil explo-

ration is in progress and plans for licensing

have been examined in a number of Carib-

bean countries. At the moment, interests

have peaked in areas off the coasts of

French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Belize,

Barbados, The Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica

and Grenada and in other islands in the

Windward chain.

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37380310@N04/3887315232/sizes/l/in/photostream/

page 4 Call: 1-876-927-1779 | Caribbean Petroleum Update : March 2013

C A R I B B E A N E N E R G Y I N F O R M A T I O N S Y S T E M ( C E I S )

PP E T R O L E U ME T R O L E U M NN E W SE W S & H& H A P P E N I N G SA P P E N I N G S

JPS preparing report on widespread outage

[...]...read more

Island wide blackout affecting Jamaica

[...]...read more

JPS urges objective evaluation of proposals

[...]...read more

OUR delays decision on power supply proposals

[...]...read more

Safety technology wins Jamaican top us Energy

Industry Award [...]...read more

10% hike in light bills for March [...]...read more

Shell gas stations to rebrand as rubis, ending nine

decades of dominance [...]...read more

Chávez Dead – Venezuela’s Presi-

dent Loses Battle With Cancer –

[...]...read more

How Japan’s ‘flammable ice’ breakthrough

could revolutionize the energy industry

[...]...read more

US Think Tank queries future of Alba, Petro-

caribe without Chávez [...]...read more

Venezuela and the C’bean after Chavez

[...]...read more

Oil deal over a barrel? [...]...read more

Chavez’s death brings hope, uncertainty to

oil patch [...]...read more

Energy News – Mr. Paulwell said…

[...]...read more

Editorial – Life After Chávez [...]...read more

Caribbean Petroleum Update : March 2013 | Call: 1-876-927-1779 page 5

C A R I B B E A N E N E R G Y I N F O R M A T I O N S Y S T E M ( C E I S )

REGULAR UNLEADED GASOLINE AVERAGE PRICES AT THE PUMP

March 2013

Retail prices for Regular Unleaded Gasoline in eight selected Caribbean countries reviewed at the end of March 2013 showed

marginal increases in prices for Dominica, Grenada, St.Kitts, St. Lucia, and Suriname when compared to the previous month

while Antigua and Barbuda remained stable. Of the five countries that experienced increases, Suriname recorded the highest

increase of US$0.17/litre. There were however decreases in prices in March 2013 of 16.7% and 5.6% for Montserrat and St.

Vincent and the Grenadines respectively in comparison to the previous month.

NOTE: *US Gallon = 3.785 L *Imperial Gallon = 4.546 L *As at November 1, 2009 MTBE was phased out from all gasoline blends in Jamaica and replaced with 10% Ethanol.

See prices for all products at See prices for all products at See prices for all products at www.cippet.orgwww.cippet.orgwww.cippet.org

Regular Unleaded Gasoline Average Retail Price (US$/Litre) 2013

COUNTRIES JANJAN FEBFEB MARMAR 3 Mths 3 Mths

AvgAvg

ANTIGUA/ BARBUDA 1.23 1.23 1.23 1.23

DOMINICA 1.18 1.20 1.28 1.22

GRENADA (95 OCT) 1.29 1.29 1.35 1.31

MONTSERRAT 1.38 1.47 1.23 1.36

ST. KITTS/ NEVIS 1.35 1.33 1.35 1.34

ST. LUCIA 1.26 1.26 1.28 1.26

ST. VINCENT/ GRENADINES 1.22 1.22 1.15 1.20

SURINAME [95 OCT] 1.42 1.47 1.64 1.51

page 6 Call: 1-876-927-1779 | Caribbean Petroleum Update : March 2013

C A R I B B E A N E N E R G Y I N F O R M A T I O N S Y S T E M ( C E I S )

International Crude Oil prices over the three months

period Jan-Mar 2013 saw prices in March averaging,

US $92.24/BBL. When compared to the average

prices seen in January and February, this average price

was approximately 1.9% and 4.1% lower respectively.

The highest weekly price seen in March for the prod-

uct was US$93.05/BBL - reflected at the end of the

fourth week. Crude Oil prices seen for March 2013

were the lowest seen over the three months period. An

average of the three month’s average prices reflected

US$94.2/BBL.

Caribbean Energy Information System (CEIS)

primary report of historical annual petroleum energy

statistics provided for 18 Caribbean Countries.

Included are data on total energy production,

consumption, and trade; overviews of petroleum,

natural gas, electricity, as well as financial and

environmental indicators for over twenty years.

US$/B

BL

Subscriptions If you wish to subscribe (free of charge) or cancel your

subscription to the CARIBBEAN PETROLEUM UPDATE, send us an email at:

ceis@src-jamaica.org

See CEIS FOR MORE: www.ceis-caribenergy.org

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88.14

109.61106.0

60

70

80

90

100

110

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Yr Avg

US$

/BBL

Period

Average Monthly World Crude Oil Prices (2010 - 2012)

2010 2011 2012Featured Offers:Featured Offers:Featured Offers: