Shell has 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.

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 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.

“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).

Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, Hon. Stuart Young said, “This development will be the most significant hydrocarbon development in Trinidad and Tobago for the past couple decades and would not have happened were it not for the vision and leadership of the Prime Minister, Dr the Hon Keith Rowley.”

“I am personally grateful for being given the privilege and opportunity to negotiate the agreement with the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to delink Manatee from Loran allowing us to proceed to develop the Manatee field in Trinidad and Tobago which was achieved in 2019. The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries then proceeded to negotiate and execute a Production Sharing Contract with Shell for the development of the Manatee field (November 2021)” he said.