HOUSTON – Shell PLC (NYSE: SHEL) has taken a final investment decision (FID) to develop its 2.7 trillion cubic feet (tcf) Manatee natural gas field offshore Trinidad, the company announced on Tuesday.
Manatee will produce at peak over 600 million cubic feet of gas per day (mcf/d) which will be processed into liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petrochemicals, Shell said on Tuesday.
Trinidad is the largest exporter of LNG in Latin America, the second largest exporter of methanol and ammonia in the world, and the largest exporter of urea to the United States.
The Caribbean country has for the last decade suffered from reduced output of both LNG and petrochemicals due to a shortage of natural gas.
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.
Shell owns 45% of Atlantic LNG, which can produce 15 million metric tons per annum (MTPA) of the superchilled gas.
Manatee is part of the 10 tcf Loran/Manatee gas field that extends across the Trinidad/Venezuela border with 2.73 tcf on the Trinidad side of the divide.
In 2019, the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela agreed to allow each country to independently develop its respective share of the Loran-Manatee field, as they tried to avoid U.S. sanctions on the Maduro regime.
Both countries have recently again raised the possibility of the entire 10 TCF going to Trinidad for LNG export.
The first gas is expected in 2027, Shell said.
The FID is in keeping with Shell’s plans to grow its global LNG portfolio by up to 30% by 2030, the company said.
(Source: Reuters)
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