1)    Sad Loss of Divers

Paria divers dead

Paria chairman Newman George  confirmed that   missing divers Fyzal Kurban, Kazim Ali Jr, Rishi Nagassar and Yusuf Henry are dead. The men were sucked into a 36-inch pipeline  while doing maintenance work. The mission has moved from  rescue to recovery of the bodies.

Hopes vanish for divers

Heartbroken relatives and friends of divers outside Heritage Petroleum in Pointe-a-Pierre on Sunday. after being told that the rescue operation has become recovery operation. – Marvin Hamilton

The families of four divers who went missing while working on a 36-inch underwater crude oil pipeline in Pointe-a-Pierre, had their hopes for a successful rescue dashed when officials of Paria Fuel Trading Company announced that they are presumed dead.

The grim announcement was made by Paria chairman Newman George, general manager Mushtaq Mohammed and terminal operations manager Collin Piper at the  staff club in Pointe-a-Pierre on Sunday.

It brought to an end an agonising wait for the relatives of Fyzal Kurban, Rishi Nagassar, Kazim Ali Jr and Yusuf Henry.

A fifth diver in the group, Christopher Boodram, was rescued and  is in a stable condition at the San Fernando General Hospital.

George said, “The operation has now moved from rescue to recovery.”

This was based on consultation among Paria, the coast guard, LMCS Ltd (the divers’ employer), expert divers and other stakeholders, after it was determined the probability of the men’s survival was low. Expressing the company’s condolences to the divers’ families, George said, “This has not been an easy decision.”

A water displacement process will be used to gently move the divers’ bodies along the pipeline “so they can be collected with dignity and respect” at Berth #6 where the incident happened and returned to their families. After saying the company had been doing its best to keep the families and the public informed about efforts to find the missing divers, George said the news that they were dead was shared with relatives before the news conference.

“We did not take that decision (to announce the shift from rescue to recovery) unilaterally.”

The time or times of death of the divers could not be determined.

Mohammed said, “We have no concrete evidence of this.”

While the recovery operation is ongoing, George said it would not be until Monday when sufficient water pressure is built up inside the pipeline to ease the bodies along. He could not say the timeframe for recovering the bodies but reiterated it will be done in a respectful and dignified manner.

George and Mohammed said an investigating team will be assembled to determine the cause of the incident. While admitting there were emergency divers on standby to help, Mohammed and Piper said the advice emerging from  consultation amongst the stakeholders at the time was that it was too risky to send divers in to find the missing men.

Mohammed and George declined to respond to claims from relatives and other people that the rescue response was too slow or that Paria was negligent or liable for the incident. George said the investigation will determine that. Mohammed said because of the nature of Paria’s fuel operations, it would not be wise to allow relatives to wait at the location of the recovery site.

News that the divers were dead and efforts were now being made to recover their bodies, came as a bitter blow to relatives who had been waiting in a car park outside  Heritage Petroleum administrative building in Pointe-a-Pierre since the incident.

Wendy Phillip, aunt of Yusuf Henry, said, “I am very distraught right now. This is a very cruel act of these people, not having consideration for the families.”

Phillip said Paria could have asked for help if the situation was beyond its control. At an impromptu news conference at the car park after the announcement by Paria, a diver who identified himself as Michael said he was involved in rescuing Boodram. He said he did not find any  of the other divers. He questioned why there was a delay in sending other divers to find the men.

“We still had time to save those guys.”

The diver claimed an order was given to block an access point in the pipeline which could have been used to get to the missing men.

Earlier on Sunday, Nicole Greenidge, mother of Yusuf Henry, expressed frustration with the lack of information on the rescue or recovery efforts.

“Since Friday we have been fed with lies as far as I’m concerned.”

A meeting on Saturday with the families, Energy Minister Stuart Young and Paria officials brought them little comfort.

Greenidge claimed, “What they told us and nothing is the same. The meeting ended with no kind of conclusion”

The families were joined on Sunday by members of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ), Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) and First Wave Movement who picketed in front the main gate of the Heritage Petroleum  building.

They began their demonstration around 10 am shouting, “We want justice! We want answers.” Some of them held placards with these and other messages. Two placards read “Daddy when are you coming home?” and “Save our fathers.”

At about 10.15 am, a convoy of police and army vehicles sped past with their occupants entering the Heritage Petroleum compound. At 10.45 am, a vehicle carrying heavy equipment entered the Heritage compound. About 20 minutes later, an ambulance arrived. Heavily-armed police officers subsequently took up positions inside and outside the compound, keeping an eye on the protesters.

MSJ political leader David Abdulah said, “Today I want to share the pain of the families of the divers who are still missing. We are here today in solidarity with you.”

He said  events demonstrated everything that was wrong in TT. He blamed the PNM administration and all its predecessors for this. He accused Government of implementing policies that “demonstrate a callous disregard for human life and for people.”

Indarsingh questions Paria’s safety protocols 

 

Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries officials, including line minister Stuart Young, leave Paria Fuel Trading Co Ltd, Pointe-a-Pierre. Four divers of a team of five went missing.. One diver was found.  –   L. Holder

COUVA South MP Rudy Indarsingh  questioned the health, security and safety protocols at Paria Fuel Trading Ltd following an incident where four divers went missing. There also needed to be an examination of the responsiveness of the State to accidents involving workers.

“The Minister of Energy Stuart Young issued a statement almost an entire 24 hours after the ordeal was first reported. The Minister of Labour, Stephen Mc Clashie, is most absent despite the critical dimension of this incident and its implications for the trapped workers.

“To this point, there has been no word from Newman George, the chairman of Paria Fuel, in response to these workers’ emergency. The Occupational Health and Safety Agency (OSHA) is yet to be seen offering comments or a guide on what protocols should have been followed and how the State ought to respond in a crisis of this nature.”

Indarsingh questioned the role and mobilisation of the coast guard or the police marine unit as the frontline marine security in rescue efforts.

“The utterly distraught families of the four underwater divers are being feebly informed regarding emerging developments and barely comforted by the company.”

The country was grateful that underwater welder Christopher Boodram was rescued and prayed for the return of Kazim Ali Jr, Fyzal Kurban, Yusuf Henry and Rishi Nagassar.

Paria said the men who worked for LMCS Ltd, a contractor, went missing  while conducting an underwater maintenance exercise at No 36 Sealine riser, berth six. An incident occurred and resulted in “the loss of sight” of the five-member team who were being monitored from the shore.

Paria’s second update said, “The immediate response to the incident included the mobilisation of experienced rescue teams to work with Paria in their efforts to search for the missing men whilst ensuring the safety of the personnel present. Operational scenarios were risk assessed and implemented and included the use of remotely operated vehicles (RoVs) and other technology. The coast guard and other subject matter experts were in support of this operation.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2)                  BHP – Ruby field

Feb 26 2022

Ruby field will produce much less oil than originally thought and as a result there will be no significant increase in crude oil production this year. BHP revealed that its production will be lower from Ruby than originally anticipated.

“Ruby’s production forecast is lower than originally expected due to lower in-place volumes associated with more subsurface complexity.”

BHP was expecting to produce 16,000 barrels of oil per day (bo/d) from Ruby but so far has averaged closer to 4,000 bo/d, a quarter of the expected production. Much government revenue was projected on higher oil production which was predicated on Ruby field, now failing to shine.
BHP revealed. an attempt now at optimisation by injecting natural gas into the wells. This will have a negative effect on natural gas being available to enter the national grid.

“Production optimization efforts are ongoing, including gas injection.”

The Ruby development is located in Block 3(a) immediately east of the Greater Angostura Field.

Through its subsidiary NGC E&P (Netherlands) B.V., NGC is a joint venture partner in the Ruby Project with operator BHP.

It was mainly on the back of the projected increase in production from the Ruby field that Finance Minister Colm Imbert told Parliament that the country will return to producing over 80,000 barrels of oil per day.

“Oil and condensate production decreased from 71,725 barrels per day in 2016 to 56,481 barrels per day in 2020; but since then, has been increasing and is projected to reach 64,000 barrels per day by the end of 2021, further increasing to 86,000 barrels per day in 2022 stabilising thereafter around that level in the medium-term.”

This seems impossible and latest production figures from the Ministry of Energy show crude production continues to hover around 60,000 bo/d as of November last year.

Former Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine agreed that the news is not good, not only for BHP, but its partner the National Gas Company Limited when prices are high.

“This is disappointing news for BHP and its partners in Block 3a which includes the NGC. It also has consequences for the country’s economic recovery in 2022 and revenue collection. It also comes at a time when oil prices are at its highest since 2014. Anyone who believes that the country will benefit from a windfall of revenue from the Russia—Ukraine invasion should therefore temper these expectations. Our past “booms” which were were based on a confluence of price increases and production growth. At this time we only have a price increase.”

Ramnarine observed that the Finance Minister had discussed the increase and wondered what it means now for the budget.

“In his October 2021 budget speech the Minister of Finance based his forecast of 5 per cent growth in 2022 on the increase in oil production in 2022. He saw oil production reaching 64,859 barrels/ day by end of 2021 (this has not happened) and increasing to 86,163 barrels per day in 2022. These predictions would have been based on an expected 16,000 barrels per day from the BHP Ruby project. It’s now seems that Ruby will not deliver the production that was expected.”

The NGC which is a shareholder in the Ruby field was jubilant when it started producing, with its President Mark Loquan even predicting a net increase of oil and gas production. BHP later refuted Loquan’s claim of increase in gas production. First gas is expected to occur soon, at the time the NGC stated.

“On completion of all development activities later this year, the Ruby field is expected to produce up to 16,000 gross barrels of oil per day and 80 million gross standard cubic feet of natural gas per day.”

In July 2020, NGC and BHP signed a Gas Sales Contract allowing NGC to purchase 100 per cent of the gas produced from the Ruby field to add to its existing portfolio of natural gas supply.
NGC as a joint venture partner is also entitled to a share of the field’s oil production.

“This will be marketed as part of its Energy Marketing and Trading portfolio, providing valuable supplemental income to the Company,” NGC stated in 2021.
Loquan, said the achievement on the Ruby project, together with positive news from other producers, gives cause for optimism.

“NGC has been working closely and conscientiously with upstream operators, both as a value chain stakeholder and Joint Venture partner in several developments, to advance work programmes and bring more gas into the pipeline. It is extremely heartening to see that work bearing fruit. The announcement of first oil from Ruby signals important progress on an important project. We look forward to more positive news from the field and expect associated gas production which would contribute to further stability in supply. This is promising news for our downstream sector, for our Company, and for the country.”

NGC said its investment stake in these upstream projects allowed it to deepen its participation along the gas value chain, and further its strategic objective of growing the business and its impact within the energy sector.

BHP shortly after said that the Ruby field will not mean any net additional gas will be added to the company or T&T’s natural gas production but would instead be used to keep present production at peak levels for a longer time. Country Manager of BHP T&T, Michael Stone, said at present, BHP produces from its Angostura field between 300 and 360 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) and Ruby will allow it to maintain production in the higher range.

“With just Angostura it ranges between 300mmscf/d and 360mmscf/d. What we would expect is with the 80mmscf/d coming on from Ruby, it allows us to produce at the upper end of that range sustainably, but it’s not going to increase beyond the upper end of that range.
“What it’s going to do, fortunately, is it’s going to elongate the profile and allow us to produce at the higher end of that range for the longer period of time, but it’s not going to take us beyond that upper end of the range to answer your question.”

NGC has again misled the country and it is time the government should divest all non-performing assets to replace bloated bureaucracies in energy, untilities and other services.