Touchstone Exploration Inc. said it expects to tie in its Carapal Ridge-3 well for production in late March 2026 and begin drilling on its legacy oil blocks during the same month.
The company outlined the plans as part of its forward program in Trinidad and Tobago, where it continues to expand natural gas and crude oil operations.
“Looking ahead, we remain focused on execution. We look forward to tying in Carapal Ridge-3 for production in late March 2026, commencing our legacy oil block drilling program in March, and commissioning the Cascadura compressor in the second quarter of 2026,” the company said on February 25.
Carapal Ridge-3 (CR-3) is the first of four planned development wells on the block. Touchstone currently produces approximately 21 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) of natural gas from the asset. After acquiring the block, the company reviewed remaining resources and advanced a four-well development campaign.
On January 6, 2026, Touchstone reported that significant net sand was encountered at CR-3, with completion and tie-in targeted for early 2026. The company said the well encountered approximately 1,082 feet of net sand, including roughly 1,000 feet of net Herrera sand.
Touchstone stated that “open-hole wireline logging, mud logging, and drilling data collectively indicate the presence of hydrocarbon-bearing sands throughout the Herrera interval” and that “the well encountered a thick pay zone across multiple Herrera horizons, both above and below a shale marker”.
In parallel, Touchstone is preparing to restart drilling on its legacy oil blocks. The company previously said CO-374 recorded the highest net pay observed to date on its crude oil legacy blocks.
The CO-374 development well on the CO-1 block, where Touchstone holds a 100% working interest, was drilled to a total depth of 5,684 feet after being spud on February 28, 2024. Open-hole logs and drilling data indicated approximately 400 feet of sand in the Forest Formation and approximately 300 feet in the Cruse Formation.
Touchstone holds operatorship across all the prospects and has outlined targets located within or very near established producing fields. The areas benefit from existing road access and infrastructure with connections to both domestic oil markets and liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities.
Six prospects have been mapped across five onshore blocks. These include Kraken in the Ortoire block, Balrog in Rio Claro, Morag West and Morag East in the Central block, St Croix in Cipero, and Cocos in Charuma. Working interests range from 65% to 80%, with gross acreage spanning roughly 900 acres to more than 3,700 acres per prospect.
