Shell has reached a final investment decision (FID) on its Manatee gas project offshore Trinidad and Tobago.
Subsidiary Shell Trinidad and Tobago Ltd. announced 9 July it aims to bring the field in the East Coast Marine Area (ECMA) online in 2027, providing backfill for the Atlantic Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility. The ECMA is home to Shell’s largest gas-producing fields in the country, including Dolphin, Starfish, Bounty, and Endeavour. Manatee, operated by Shell with 100% interest, is in Block 6(d) in 91 m of water.
The Manatee-Loran field was discovered in 1983, and four appraisal wells followed. The Loran part of the field is in Venezuelan waters, while Manatee represents the portion of the field in Trinidad and Tobago waters.
The field is believed to hold around 10 Tcf of natural gas, with about 75% of that in Venezuelan waters.
In 2007, the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela signed a framework treaty covering cross-border fields, and a unitization agreement specifically covering Loran-Manatee followed in 2010. In 2019, the governments terminated the unitization agreement, entering into a different agreement that allows each country to develop its respective share of the Loran-Manatee field independently. US sanctions against Venezuela have prevented codevelopment of the complex.
On announcing the Manatee FID, Shell said the field is expected to reach peak production of 604 MMft3/D, or 104,000 BOE/D.
The project will involve a normally unattended installation in the ECMA acreage with eight development wells via a 110-km 32-inch 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.
In announcing FID, Shell did not release the expected budget for the project.
Shell awarded McDermott a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract on Manatee in March 2023 and followed that up in November 2023 with a limited notice to proceed on the design, procurement, fabrication, transportation, installation, and commissioning of a wellhead platform and offshore and onshore gas pipelines. Also in November 2023, Saipem won a FEED contract for the Manatee project.
