Shell to grow LNG business with 2027 Manatee natural gas production start-up offshore Trinidad and Tobago

(WO) – Shell Trinidad and Tobago Ltd. (Shell), a subsidiary of Shell plc, has taken Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Manatee project, an undeveloped natural gas field in the East Coast Marine Area (ECMA) in Trinidad and Tobago.

Manatee will allow Shell to competitively grow its Integrated Gas business by building on development efforts in the ECMA, one of the country’s most prolific gas-producing areas. The ECMA is currently home to Shell’s largest gas-producing fields in the country including Dolphin, Starfish, Bounty and Endeavour.

The Manatee natural gas field will provide backfill for the country’s Atlantic LNG facility. Increasing utilization at existing LNG plants is an important lever to maximize potential from Shell’s existing assets.

Shell plans to grow its LNG business by 20-30% by 2030, compared with 2022, and LNG liquefaction volumes are planned to grow by 25-30%, relative to 2022, as outlined at Shell’s Capital Markets Day in 2023.

Manatee is slated to start production in 2027. Once online, Manatee is expected to reach peak production of approximately 104,000 boed.

Shell is the operator of Manatee with a 100% working interest under the sub-Block 6D Production Sharing Contract.

The Loran-Manatee field was discovered in 1983 and subsequently appraised via four wells. Loran represents the portion of the field in Venezuelan waters, and Manatee represents the portion of the field in Trinidad and Tobago waters.

In 2007, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago (GORTT) and the Government of Venezuela (GOVEN) signed a Framework Treaty covering all cross-border fields and in 2010 signed a Unitization Agreement specifically covering Loran-Manatee.

In 2019, GORTT and GOVEN terminated the Unitization Agreement and entered into another government-to-government agreement, allowing each country to independently develop its respective share of the Loran-Manatee field.

The project will involve a Normally Unattended Installation platform located in the ECMA acreage with eight development wells via a 110 km 32” pipeline to the Shell-operated onshore Beachfield gas processing facility, for onward export to the Atlantic LNG facility, and to the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago for the domestic gas market.

Global demand for LNG is estimated to rise by more than 50% by 2040, as industrial coal-to-gas switching gathers pace in China, South Asian and South-east Asian countries. These countries are expected to use more LNG to support their economic growth, according to Shell’s LNG Outlook 2024.

“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.