SHELL GOING AHEAD WITH MANATEE GAS PROJECT

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Shell, the global energy giant, announced today that is subsidiary in this country has taken the Final Investment Decision to proceed with the Manatee natural gas project off the East Coast of Trinidad.  The Energy Minister credits the present government led by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley for negotiating with Venezuela - the de-linking of Manatee from the Loran/Manatee field.  However, Shell says gas production from Manatee is slated to begin in 2027.  Juhel Browne reports.

Transcript

00:00At the signing ceremony for the production-sharing contract between Shell and the Energy Ministry

00:06in 2021 for the Manatee Field project, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said then that the

00:13Manatee side of the Lauren Manatee Field, which is in Trinidad and Tobago's territorial

00:18waters, has an estimated resource of 2.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

00:25On Tuesday, July 9, 2024, Shell PLC's Trinidad and Tobago subsidiary announced that it has

00:31taken the final investment decision on the Manatee project.

00:37In 2021, the Prime Minister said then that the Manatee Field, known as Subblock 6D, had

00:44an estimated operating and capital expenditure of US $1.8 billion.

00:51The production-sharing contract for Subblock 6D Manatee is for a period of 25 years.

00:59Preliminary estimates indicate that the natural gas production could start as early as 2025,

01:07with an initial production of up to 350 million standard cubic feet per day, before ramping

01:16up to as much as 700 million standard cubic feet per day.

01:23On Tuesday, Shell confirmed that Manatee, which is in the East Coast Marine Area in

01:28Trinidad and Tobago, is slated to start production in 2027.

01:34Shell said once online, Manatee is expected to reach peak production of approximately

01:39104,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or 604 million standard cubic feet of gas

01:46per day.

01:48Trinidad and Tobago continues to suffer from a shortage of natural gas, which feeds the

01:53Atlantic LNG Facility in Point 14, which produces liquefied natural gas for export, and the

01:59industrial plants in Point Lisas that produce ammonia, methanol and other downstream gas

02:05products for export.

02:07Shell said on Tuesday that the Manatee Field will provide backfill for the Atlantic LNG

02:12Facility.

02:14In a statement on Tuesday, Energy Minister Stuart Young said this development will be

02:19the most significant hydrocarbon development in Trinidad and Tobago for the past couple

02:25decades.

02:26The Energy Minister also said it would not have happened were it not for what he described

02:31as the vision and leadership of the Prime Minister.

02:34The Energy Minister also said that he is personally grateful for being given the privilege and

02:40opportunity to negotiate the agreement with the Government of Venezuela to de-link Manatee

02:46from Loran, which is in Venezuela's waters.

02:49This occurred in 2019.

02:52Over two and a half years ago, Prime Minister Rauli said a suite of annual charges was payable

02:58within 10 days of the effective date of the contract signed in November of 2021, and thereafter

03:05within the first 10 days of the contract year.

03:08There is also a one-time technical bonus of US$200,000 to the Ministry, with an annual

03:18scholarship contribution of US$100,000 per annum, increasing at 6% per annum, and a signing

03:26bonus of US$15 million.

03:31The Energy Chamber said on Tuesday that the announcement by Shell is excellent news and

03:35added that the Manatee Field is projected to deliver significant volumes of natural

03:41gas equivalent to around 20% of current natural gas production.

03:47Jule Brown, TV6 News.

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