Shell makes FID on Trinidad’s Manatee gas project

PORT OF SPAIN, July 9, 2024 – Shell has reached a final investment decision on Trinidad’s Manatee gasfield, in a boost for the country’s LNG production, the company said on Tuesday.

The new gas supply will be directed in part to the Atlantic LNG facility, where a fourth train has been idle for several years due to dwindling gas supplies.

Last year, Trinidadian authorities announced plans to restart the unit by Q1 2027.

Read our latest interview with Ronald Adams, CEO of Atlantic.

Shell subsidiary Shell Trinidad and Tobago will develop the Manatee field, located in the prolific East Coast Marine Area (ECMA). The ECMA licence holds Shell’s largest gas-producing fields in the country, including Dolphin, Starfish, Bounty and Endeavour.

The company’s move to increase the backfill at the LNG facility, in which it holds a 45% stake, is part of global efforts to increase utilisation at its existing LNG facilities.

Atlantic LNG is a liquefaction facility in Trinidad’s Point Fortin with a capacity of 15 million tonnes per year. Shell’s partners in the project include BP (45%) and the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (10%).

“[The Manatee] 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,” Shell’s integrated gas and upstream director, Zoë Yujnovich, said.

Trinidadian Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young took to X to comment on the significance of the FID.

“This is the largest hydrocarbon developmental project in TT in the last couple decades,” he said. “This is the result of this government’s vision, hard work and competence. Great news for TT and Shell.”

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