An agreement among Trinidad and Tobago and key European partners BP Plc and Shell Plc will fully unitize the country’s Atlantic LNG plant after the stakeholders apparently resolved their differences.
“Today was a historic one for Trinidad and Tobago as we signed off with the shareholders on the commercial terms for the restructuring of Atlantic LNG into a unitized facility,” Trinidad’s Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young revealed Dec. 6 in a Twitter post.
“Trinidad and Tobago’s future in LNG is secure and full of promise,” said Stuart, who also serves as a Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Keith Rowley.
Atlantic LNG, a four-train, 14.8 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) facility, is currently operating with just three trains due to a lack of gas supply and disagreements between BP, the twin-island country’s largest gas producer, and Shell, the largest shareholder in the plant’s four trains.
The restructuring aims to put the plant to better use and generate more value for all the participants.
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Partners in the four Atlantic LNG trains include Shell, BP, The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) and Chinese Investment Corporation (CIC) in Train 1; Shell and BP in Train 2 and Train 3; and Shell, BP and NGC in Train 4.
“The definitive commercial terms which we are signing today bring us closer to a new commercial framework that will lay a strong foundation for the long-term future of Atlantic and the country’s LNG industry,” BP Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT) President David Campbell announced Dec. 6 in a company press release.
bpTT is the parent company’s local affiliate and partners BP (70%) and Spain’s Repsol (30%).
The simplified ownership of Atlantic LNG and commercial framework should allow for market-reflective pricing to create greater value and increase the government’s participation in the LNG value chain, Campbell said.
“Clarity of commercial terms will be important to support continued investment in the upstream and the sanction of the next wave of upstream gas projects,” he said.
Trinidad is the Caribbean’s largest gas producer and home to Atlantic LNG, the first liquefaction plant in Latin America. Trinidad is also home to ammonia and methanol plants, but the bulk of the country’s value generated from its gas derives from the LNG business, NGC President Mark Loquan said Dec. 6 in a separate press release.
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“With Atlantic’s future made more secure by this restructuring, we hope to see more development activity, which ultimately boosts gas availability and long-term sustainability for the local gas industry,” Loquan said. “All around, this is great news for Trinidad and Tobago.”
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