LNG

July 9 (LNGJ) - UK major Shell has taken a positive final investment decision to proceed with the Manatee natural gas project offshore Trinidad and Tobago to supply more feed gas to the Atlantic LNG export plant at Point Fortin in Trinidad. The Manatee gas field will provide backfill to Atlantic LNG as part of Shell’s strategy to boost utilisation at existing liquefaction plants.

   “This project will help meet the increasing demand for natural gas globally while also addressing the energy needs of our customers domestically in Trinidad and Tobago,” said Zoë Yujnovich, Shell’s Integrated Gas and Upstream Director. “The investment bolsters our world-leading LNG portfolio in line with our commitment to invest in competitive projects that deliver more value with less emissions,” she added.

The US subsidiary of the UK’s National Grid Plc, which has several transmission and utility businesses in the US Northeast, has asked Massachusetts utility regulators to approve an agreement with US company Constellation Energy that would keep the Everett liquefied natural gas import terminal near Boston in operation until at least 2030 and beyond.

US energy engineering company McDermott has received a limited notice to proceed for an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract from Shell for the Manatee natural gas field development project offshore the East Coast of Trinidad and Tobago with supplies destined for LNG production and domestic gas supplies.

UK-based oil and gas majors BP plc and Shell plc have agreed to restructure their ownership in Trinidad and Tobago’s Atlantic liquefied natural gas project at Point Fortin in Trinidad.

Sept 13 (LNG) - The 173,400 cubic metres capacity carrier “Maran Gas Chios” was scheduled to berth on September 13 at the French LNG import terminal at the Channel port of Dunkirk with a cargo from the Caribbean nation of Trinidad & Tobago, according to shipping data. The vessel lifted the cargo on September 2 from the Point Fortin facility in Trinidad.

   The cargo was arriving in France as the European benchmark Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) wholesale gas price was declining from more elevated levels to around the equivalent of $56.55 per million British thermal units. The spot day-ahead French PEG market price on the European Energy Exchange was at around the equivalent of $40.05 per MMBtu.

March 25 (LNGJ) - The first April LNG cargo for the UK will come from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, according to port authorities. The 173,400 cubic metres capacity carrier “Minerva Psara” lifted the cargo from the Point Fortin liquefaction plant in Trinidad on March 20 and the shipment is scheduled to be discharged on April 1 at the UK South Hook import terminal in Milford Haven.

Royal Dutch Shell reported overall third-quarter profits down 25 percent from the previous quarter as the natural gas division posted a loss blamed on accounting provisions for hedging while liquefied natural gas sales for the year to date plunged 13 percent.

Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean nation shipping cargoes from the Atlantic LNG facility at Point Fortin in Trinidad, will have access to more feed gas after Royal Dutch Shell started production at a new gas field.

Shell said natural gas was now flowing from “Project Barracuda”, otherwise known as Block 5C in the East Coast Marine Area (ECMA) of Trinidad and Tobago.

“This marks a significant milestone in the delivery of gas both domestically and internationally through Atlantic LNG,” stated the Anglo-Dutch company.

Project Barracuda is a backfill venture amounting to around 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or 140 million standard cubic feet per day of gas, of sustained near-term output with peak production expected to be about 40,000 boe per day, or 220 mmscf per day.

“It is Shell’s first greenfield project in the country and one of its largest in Trinidad and Tobago since the BG Group (2017) acquisition,” stated Shell.

The new feed-gas resources are a boost for the plant in Trinidad that saw exports drop in 2020 by 19.3 percent to 10.08 million tonnes.

Before the shale-gas boom in North America, Trinidad was the main LNG supplier to import terminals in the US, now the world's third-largest LNG exporter.

Shell is a major shareholder in Atlantic LNG with equity shares in the four liquefaction Trains at the Point Fortin facility ranging between 46.0 percent to 57.5 percent.

Maarten Wetselaar, Director of Integrated Gas, Renewable and Energy Solutions at Shell, said that Project Barracuda strengthened the “resilience and competitiveness” of Shell’s position in Trinidad and Tobago.

“This is a key growth opportunity that supports our long-term strategy in the country as well as our global LNG growth ambitions,” stated Wetselaar.

Eugene Okpere, Shell’s Senior VP and Country Chair, said he was delighted with the start of production.

“We are immensely proud of our people and the remarkable work it took to achieve this milestone, particularly given that drilling began in May 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic,” explained Okpere.

“Our execution strategy had to be completely overhauled to deliver our business plan, all while working remotely. It required tremendous resilience, adaptability and commitment,” he said.

Shell noted that ECMA is one of the most prolific gas-producing areas in Trinidad and Tobago.

As part of Shell’s development strategy in the region, the company had sought ways to access the significant volumes that exist there and bring them on stream.

The Barracuda Project comprises two subsea wells, both 100 percent owned by Shell, one in the Endeavour field and the other in the Bounty field.

Both wells are tied back to Shell’s Dolphin platform.

“These are two of the deepest development wells in Trinidad and Tobago,” said Shell.

“Endeavour was drilled to a depth of 20,000 feet (6,096 metres) while Bounty was drilled to a depth of 16,000 feet (4,877 metres),” it explained.

Shell said it now looked forward to the delivery of the four-well development project in Block 22 and NCMA 4, known as the Colibri Project.

This is a joint venture with Heritage Petroleum Co., the emerging Trinidad and Tobago oil and gas company, with first gas from Colibri expected in 2022.

March 2 (LNGJ) – Two LNG cargoes from Trinidad are heading for the UK port of Milford Haven. The 174,000 cubic metres capacity “Gaslog Glasgow” will unload a shipments at Milford Haven’s Dragon import facility on March 4 from the Point Fortin export plant in Trinidad. The 140,500 cubic metres capacity “Hispania Spirit” is scheduled to arrive with a second Trinidad cargo on March 5, according to the port authorities.

   The Trinidad shipments are heading for the UK with the National Balancing Point natural gas price at around $2.80 per million British thermal units and the main price on Continental Europe, the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), was at the equivalent of $2.90 per MMBtu.

McDermott International, the US energy and LNG engineering company, was awarded a large contract by Anglo-Australian commodities and energy firm BHP for subsea work on the Ruby Project, offshore the LNG producing nation Trinidad and Tobago.