Page 6 - GLNG Week 30 2021

GLNG COMMENTARY GLNG

What next for Atlantic

LNG’s Train 1?

As Shell brings a new gas-bearing block on stream,

shareholders in the plant’s first production train

are reportedly at odds over feedstock supplies and
ownership structures

PROJECTS & TRINIDAD and Tobago’s natural gas industry owners, or one set for each of its four production
BAKKEN has had some good news this week, as a subsidi- trains.
ary of Royal Dutch Shell (UK/Netherlands) has More specifically, Train 1 is owned 46% by
WHAT: succeeded in launching production at the off- Shell, 34% by BP (UK), 10% by Trinidad and
Shell, BP and NGC are shore Block 5C, located within the East Coast Tobago’s National Gas Co. (NGC) and 10% by
reportedly holding Marine Area (ECMA). China Investment Corp. (CIC). Meanwhile,
sensitive discussions on In a press release, Shell reported that Block Trains 2 and 3 are owned 57.5% by Shell and
gas supplies for Train 1, 5C, also known as Project Barracuda, was 42.5% by BP, while Train 4 is owned 51.11% by
as well as a proposed expected to yield 140mn cubic feet (3.96mn Shell, 37.78% by BP, and 11.11% by NGC.
change in the ownership cubic metres) per day of gas in the near term, Currently, Train 1 is idle. It was taken offline
structure. with output peaking later at 220 mmcf (6.23 earlier this year for a turnaround maintenance
mcm) per day. It also said it intended to process programme, and press agencies in Trinidad and
WHY: some of the gas from the field at the Atlantic Tobago have reported that the shutdown may
The production train LNG plant for delivery to the world market. become permanent, owing to questions about
has been offline for This development is a milestone for Shell, in feedstock supplies and a proposal for reorgan-
maintenance and may be that Block 5C is one of the company’s largest isation of the shareholder roster.
shut down indefinitely. undertakings in Trinidad and Tobago since its The questions about feedstock stem partly
acquisition of BG Group in 2016. It will also help from the fact that BP has been supplying more
WHAT NEXT: ensure deliveries of feedstock to Atlantic LNG, than 70% of all the gas processed at Atlantic
No major changes are in which Shell is the largest shareholder. LNG, even though it has a smaller stake in each
likely before the end of However, it will probably not help resolve production train than Shell does. They are also
the year. outstanding questions about the fate of Atlantic related to BP’s announcement in 2019 that it
LNG’s first production train. could not maintain gas supplies to the lique-
faction plant at the level of 500 mmcf per day
Ownership structure because its infill drilling project was delivering
The gas liquefaction plant is unusual, in that the disappointing results – and the subsequent
facility is not owned by a single company or a decline in the plant’s output.
consortium. Instead, it has four different sets of BP and Shell are also at odds over the latter’s

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 30 30•July•2021