Energy producer Shell has made a positive final investment decision on its Aphrodite gas project offshore Trinidad and Tobago, the company said on Tuesday.
The project is expected to produce first gas in 2027 and have a peak production of 18,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day, it added in a release.
Shell is a 45% shareholder in Trinidad's Atlantic LNG plant which has a capacity to produce 12 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) of the superchilled gas, but has been plagued by a shortfall of natural gas. That means Shell has not been able to get its full share of over 5.5 MTPA of LNG from the plant.
"Once online, this gas field will serve as a backfill for the country’s Atlantic LNG facility," Shell said on Tuesday.
The Trump administration revoked a license allowing Shell and Trinidad and Tobago to develop the Dragon gas project in neighboring Venezuela that was intended to provide Atlantic LNG with much needed gas.
Aphrodite will allow Shell to incrementally expand its integrated gas business by building on existing developments in the east coast marine area (ECMA), one of Trinidad's most prolific gas-producing areas, Shell said.
"The ECMA is currently home to Shell’s largest gas-producing fields in the country including Dolphin, Starfish, Bounty and Endeavour," Shell said.
Shell produces just over 600 million cubic feet per day of natural gas in Trinidad and the increased production from Aphrodite will help it maximize the utilization of its existing assets, Shell said.
(Reuters/Reporting by Marianna Parraga and Curtis Williams; Editing by David Gregorio)