Woodside steps up critical gas production in Trinidad

Trinidad and Tobago

Kellyanne Lochan, Woodside Energy’s country manager for Trinidad and Tobago, talks to The Energy Year about the company’s production optimisation and decarbonisation efforts and the importance of Trinidad and Tobago in its worldwide portfolio. Australian international energy player Woodside Energy operates the shallow-water Greater Angostura and Ruby fields offshore Trinidad.

How would you assess the current production performance of the Greater Angostura and Ruby fields?
In 2023, we increased production by approximately 10% through both subsurface and topside optimisation projects. For example, we converted gas injectors into producers, added mechanisms to capture gas from unswept reservoir zones and reduced backpressure on wells via topside operating optimisation.
We recognise the need to maximise gas production given the criticality of gas supply delivery at this time in Trinidad and Tobago. We are committed to playing our part in this regard and safely maximising gas production from our assets.

How important is Trinidad and Tobago to Woodside’s ambition of establishing a resilient and diversified portfolio of assets?
Trinidad and Tobago remains an important part of our global portfolio and our growth plans.
We remain focused on maximising the value of the Angostura and Ruby assets and the remaining reserves through our continued efforts in delivering production optimisation projects. We are concurrently focused on process safety and facility integrity enhancements that underpin facility life extension and continued safe production. This applies to both our offshore and onshore assets.
While we remain focused on maximising production from the currently producing assets, we are continuing to evaluate the potential pathways to commercially develop the Calypso project, which we see as a strategic gas resource for both Woodside and the country.

What activity has been planned for the next year regarding the development of the Calypso gasfield?
Our focus will remain on progressing the pre-front-end engineering design studies to mature the technical definition of the infield host development concept, and in parallel, progressing the marketing and fiscal discussions to evaluate the various monetisation options.

How would you assess the fiscal framework in Trinidad and Tobago for incentivising deepwater activity among multinational operators?
Deepwater developments are significantly more capital intensive and require the right fiscal, legal and regulatory framework to attract global investment capital. Woodside continues to work collaboratively with the government of Trinidad and Tobago to progress the fiscal negotiations that would enable the potential Calypso development.
We look forward to continuing engagement with the government as it implements and evolves the country’s policy and fiscal frameworks. These frameworks can help unlock the technological innovation needed to further develop the deepwater oil and gas sector in the future.

Why is it important for upstream operators in Trinidad and Tobago to collaborate in the frontier of deepwater developments?
Like all successful deepwater plays, success in the deepwater in Trinidad and Tobago will rely on the creation of successful partnerships. These include partnerships between joint venturers who are aligned on the risks and can deliver the technology and innovation needed to safely develop world-class energy projects. They also include successful partnerships with host governments who provide the economic and legal frameworks to attract the necessary capital. And thirdly, successful partnerships with resource owners to ensure the economic and social benefits of development are felt broadly.

What key action has Woodside taken in Trinidad and Tobago to advance its net equity Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions reductions in line with the company’s climate strategy?
At Woodside, we are committed to achieving our decarbonisation goals. We remain on track to meet our target of reducing our net equity scope 1 and 2 emissions to 15% below our starting base by 2025 and 30% by 2030, ahead of our aspiration to reach net zero by 2050 or sooner.
In January 2024, Woodside joined the Oil & Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 to support transparent methane emissions reporting. Like other Woodside assets globally, in Trinidad and Tobago we have developed a decarbonisation plan which includes multiple high-graded technical options and operating practices to reduce our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
In 2023, we updated and implemented 12 standing operational procedures to minimise gas flaring during facility startup. We have also developed a methane action plan, which is focused on measuring, reducing and reporting methane emissions.

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