MEXICO CITY—English-speaking Belize, which reported its first commercial oil discovery in 2005, is hoping new discoveries onshore will help boost production.
Belize only has two fields, the Spanish Outlook Oilfield and the Never Delay Oilfield, in production with the assistance of Belize Natural Energy Ltd. (BNE) — but both are in decline. New exploration by independents may change that.
“Spanish Outlook at its peak produced 5,000 bbl/d and is currently at 500 bbl/d. So we need to make some new discoveries,” Belize’s Ministry of Natural Resources, Petroleum & Mining Director Andre Cho told Hart Energy on March 23 on the sidelines of the two-day AAPG-Energy Opportunities event in Mexico City.
Never Delay is producing less than that.
Belize is home to about 441,000 citizens and boasts a stable democracy and an area of 22,966 sq km, including offshore territory. Belize’s GDP was an estimated $1.8 billion in 2021, according to its natural resources ministry.
Currently, BNE is Belize’s sole producer, although five small independents hold onshore exploration licenses: USCapital Belize Corp., Saba Energy I Holdings LLC, Princess Petroleum Ltd., BelGeo Ltd. and FCRL Belize.
Belize has three onshore geological provinces: Corozal Basin, Maya Mountains and the Belize Basin and one province offshore where there’s a moratorium on exploration.
In the Belize Basin there are oil seeps, hydrocarbon shows and available exploration blocks.
In the Corozal Basin there are oil seeps in the south near producing fields. Recent basin modeling shows possible migration pathways and potential hydrocarbon accumulations, according to Cho. There are also vacant exploration blocks in the basin.
An eye on exploration and production potential
BNE’s oil is sold locally or exported to the U.S. Gulf Coast. Belize has road transportation routes to Mexico and Guatemala and one petroleum export terminal in southern Belize. Petroleum was once Belize’s No. 1 export, and the natural resources ministry is looking for oil to regain that positioning, Cho added.
In the south, USCapital Belize Corp. is preparing to shoot seismic and drill three wells. The company’s last well encountered hydrocarbons at about 10,500 feet.
“It seems that they were off structure and they want to shoot new seismic to have better imaging and then drill a new well,” Cho said. “So we expect the next discovery to happen in the Belize Basin.”
The other companies are preparing to shoot seismic and drill wells, potentially between 2024 and 2025.
“We are in the process of completing a basin study in the Corozal Basin being our producing basin… and are looking at the source reservoir and seal for the three different oils that we have in the basin, since it identified some areas with potential commercial accumulation,” Cho said.