Touchstone Exploration Inc. ("Touchstone") (TXP) is pleased to announce that the Coho facility has safely delivered first natural gas, representing the first onshore natural gas project to come onstream in Trinidad and Tobago in
over twenty years. The Coho area is located in the Ortoire block, where Touchstone has an 80 percent operating working interest and Heritage Petroleum Company Limited holds the remaining 20 percent working interest.
On September 26, 2022, the Coho facility was approved by the Certified Verification Agent with the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries promptly authorizing facility commissioning. On September 27, 2022, we commenced commissioning and achieved commercial deliveries on October 10, 2022, with a field estimated sustained gross production rate of approximately 10.5 million cubic feet per day (approximately 8.4 million cubic feet per day net).
We will continue to monitor the Coho-1 well in an effort to optimize production. In conjunction with initial production, we have sold the 2.7-kilometre, 6-inch gathering line tying in our Coho facility to the Baraka natural gas facility to The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited ("NGC"). Natural gas production from the Coho facility will be sold to NGC pursuant to a natural gas sales agreement executed in December 2020.
Paul Baay, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"This is very exciting for the Company, as Coho production represents the first stage of diversifying our product mix in Trinidad. The Coho facility is capable of 24 million cubic feet of gross natural gas per day, giving us the ability to potentially add incremental production volumes through a combination of additional drilling and well optimization. I would also like to recognize the collective contributions of our team in making this project a success. Being the first onshore gas project in over twenty years, we have learnt from the process, which we expect will provide a strong foundation for continuous improvement as we proceed with our larger Cascadura project."