Page 11 - GLNG Week 38 2021

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bpTT launches Matapal ahead of schedule

UK BP Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT), a subsidiary of the facility since 2019, when it announced that it
BP (UK), revealed on September 20 that it had could not maintain deliveries at the level of 500
The company will begun extracting natural gas from the Matapal mmcf (14.2 mcm) per day because its infill drill-
be delivering gas field offshore Trinidad and Tobago. ing project was delivering disappointing results.
from Matapal to the In a statement, bpTT said it had succeeded in The Matapal field is located 80 km off the
domestic market. bringing Matapal on stream seven months ahead south-eastern coast of Trinidad in 63-metre-deep
of schedule, despite the challenges posed by the water, near bpTT’s Juniper field. The company
global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The has drilled three development wells there and has
field is now ramping up to its initial production linked them to the Juniper platform via subsea
rate of 250-350mn cubic feet (7.08-9.91mn cubic tie-backs. These connections are “helping to min-
metres) per day of gas, it reported. imise development costs and the associated car-
The company will be delivering gas from bon footprint” of the project, the statement said.
Matapal to the domestic market, the statement Claire Fitzpatrick, the president of bpTT,
noted. “Gas from this project will be pooled with described the beginning of development oper-
production from other [bpTT] fields to be used ations at Matapal as an accomplishment. “Natu-
as feedstock for the country’s ammonia, metha- ral gas will play an important role in the energy
nol and LNG plants, as well as for power gener- transition and to the economy of Trinidad and
ation,” it said. Tobago for decades to come,” she commented.
Presumably some of the gas from the new “This is why our team at bpTT has worked dil-
site will be delivered to the Atlantic LNG plant, igently to safely start up our Matapal project,
which is located in Point Fortin on the island of which we successfully achieved both under
Trinidad. The BP subsidiary has a stake in each budget and ahead of schedule. We are committed
of the facility’s four production trains and is cur- to a strong energy future in Trinidad and Tobago,
rently the largest supplier of gas to the plant. It and this project plays a critical role in delivering
has been seeking additional supplies of gas for that.” ™
EUROPE

First modules arrived at Arctic LNG-2

RUSSIA THE first modules for the first train of tonnes per year (tpy). Novatek reiterated this
Novatek’s Arctic LNG-2 LNG terminal have week that the project remained on schedule, in
Novatek is in talks with arrived in Murmansk, the operator said on spite of some delays caused last year by coro-
financiers from Japan September 21. navirus (COVID-19) restrictions in China and
and China. The pipe-rack modules, weighing some 9,000 Russia.
tonnes apiece, were delivered from the port of Novatek operates Arctic LNG-2 with a 60%
Zhousan in China to Novatek’s LNG construc- stake, while French partner TotalEnergies and
tion yard in Murmansk in north-west Russia. China’s CNPC and CNOOC each have 10%.
They will be skidded onto the first train’s grav- Japanese firms Mitsui and JOGMEC have 5%
ity-based structure platform. stakes.
Another two modules have been loaded onto While a final investment decision (FID) was
a ship in China and are currently on route to taken on Arctic LNG-2, Novatek and its partners
Murmansk. 14 units in total will be delivered for are still seeking some $11bn in external financ-
the first train, Novatek said. ing from international investors. Novatek CEO
“This major achievement demonstrates a Leonid Mikhelson said at the start of this month
strong involvement of thousands of people and that Japanese and Chinese banks might pro-
robust collaboration between Technip Energies vide more funds, and some $1bn was expected
and all parties, especially our customer Novatek to come from France and Germany. However,
and its partners along with our partners and sub- European environmentalists have urged their
contractors,” Technip Energies, which supplied governments not to support the project because
the modules, commented. “We will continue the of its climate impact.
same path to complete all shipments and instal- “We have [European] partners in place, while
lations for the first gravity-based structure by the we don’t see support from the government of
beginning of the next year.” these partners,” Mikhelson said. “We have credit
Arctic LNG-2 will comprise three trains lines open for the third of the total financing
that are due to come on stream in 2023, 2024 from the Russian banks. We can raise it from a
and 2025, raising its overall capacity to 19.8mn third to 60%.” ™

Week 38 24•September•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11