Shell plans to start gas production at the massive Venezuela-Trinidad Loran Manatee Field next year

Gerald Ramdeen is the chairman of Trinidad's National Gas Company. He said that Shell will begin natural gas production in 2027 at the Loran-Manatee field offshore, which crosses Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.

Shell has accelerated gas projects in Venezuela, under the interim president Delcy Rodriguez, especially those with Trinidad. Trinidad needs new gas supplies to fuel liquefied gas and petrochemical project. Shell informed NGC that it was working towards having the first gas produced from the joint field by next year. NGC chairman stated that the capacity of the pipeline which will transport gas to Trinidad has been increased to 1 billion cubic foot per day from 700 million cubic feet per days originally planned.

Ramdeen said in an interview that the gas would now be delivered to Beachfield via a 32 inch pipeline rather than the original 24 inch pipeline.

Shell is in advanced talks to participate in Loran on the Venezuelan side. Shell could also choose to develop this project as a single one with Manatee whose planning for Trinidad has been progressing in recent years.

Shell stated in an email that it expected to start production at Manatee by next year. However, it had not made a final investment decision for?Loran. Loran has 7.3 trillion cubic foot of?gas, while Manatee is estimated to have 2.7 TCF. Loran was explored in Venezuela by U.S. company Chevron for two blocks under the Plataforma Deltana off-shore gas project. This project is still not active. Chevron has now renounced the field while negotiating for a new oil bloc in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt.

NEW TALKS

Trinidad and Tobago’s cabinet is expected to make a decision on Thursday about which officials it will send to Venezuela to negotiate over a separate gas field of 4.5 TCF, which Shell will also operate and where the state-run NGC has an interest. The Dragon project is located entirely within Venezuelan waters. Shell owns 80% of the Dragon project, and NGC holds the remaining 20%. This is according to the 30-year license granted by Venezuela late in 2023.

Since the election of Trinidad's new government, relations between Venezuela and Trinidad are deteriorating. Venezuela last ?year declared Trinidad's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar persona non grata.

Persad Bisssar announced that a Trinidadian delegation would be traveling to Caracas on Wednesday to meet with Venezuelan representatives about the Dragon project. Ramdeen stated that?the prospect for additional gas supplies combined with geopolitical worries stemming the U.S./Israel war against Iran had prompted NGC? to push for the restart the first liquefaction of the Atlantic LNG Project, which has been mothballed due to a lack of gas. Ramdeen stated that "we have told the partners we believe that there is a need for Train 1 to be restarted because of the geopolitical uncertainties and access to more gas."

Shell and BP own 45% each of the LNG flagship project while NGC has the remaining 10%.

BP did respond immediately to a comment request. Reporting by Curtis Williams, Houston; Editing Marianna Paraga and David Gregorio

(source: Reuters)