Above: Port of Spain (CJ Photo)

Spain-based energy firm Repsol recently made what Trinidad’s government is calling a “major” oil discovery.

The Ministry of Energy said Repsol had discovered 40 million barrels of oil, which is “already on production and adding to overall national production,” according to Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine.

Repsol operates the field with a 70 percent interest, in partnership with the Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago and the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago, each of which have a 15 percent stake.

The Ministry said the discovery was the fifth in the last two years and comes after discoveries by Petrotrin, Bayfield (now Trinity) and BP.

“These discoveries are premised on a significant increase in exploration and development activity in both land and marine acreages over the last three years,” the Ministry said in a statement. “This is also reflected in the record levels of foreign direct investment that the energy sector has experienced in the period 2011 to 2013. These trends signal a resurgence of the upstream component of the national energy sector. The net result is an arresting of the decline in oil production which declined sharply from 2006 to 2012.”

There are currently eight rigs working in the waters of Trinidad and Tobago, an increase of seven rigs over the same period in 2010.

Repsol operates two of the rigs — the Seadrill West Freedom and the Rowan Gorilla III.