Shell to start new gas field

Shell said it has taken Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Manatee project, an undeveloped gas field in the East Coast Marine Area (ECMA) in Trinidad and Tobago.

Shell said the project will allow it 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 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, the company said.

Shell’s Appomattox platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The company announced that it has taken Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Manatee project, an undeveloped gas field in the East Coast Marine Area (ECMA) in Trinidad and Tobago. (Image: Shell)

“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 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 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) (604 MMscf/d).

The project will involve a Normally Unattended Installation platform located in the ECMA acreage with eight development wells via a 110 km 32-in. 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.