Page 9 - GLNG Week 49 2022

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Atlantic LNG shareholders

strike deal on shareholder

reorganisation

OWNERSHIP PARTNERS in Atlantic LNG, the operator of a CIC had held about 10% of equity in Atlantic
gas liquefaction plant in Trinidad and Tobago, LNG’s first production train, and since this unit
have finally reached an agreement on the is expected to remain offline for the time being,
reorganisation of ownership structures in the it is not a major driver of the group’s operational
facility’s production trains after four years of plans.
negotiations. The reshuffle has been hailed by Trinidad
The new deal between the parties serves and Tobago’s government, with officials in Port
to dissolve the old arrangement under which of Spain pointing out that the new ownership
Atlantic LNG split equity in each production structure is more streamlined and also likely to
train among a different group of investors. generate more budget revenue. Prime Minister
Instead, it consolidates all four of the joint ven- Keith Rowley has also noted that the govern-
tures and brings the production trains into a ment will be able to market its own LNG on a
single unitised entity with a common ownership global basis once the reorganisation is complete.
structure and commercial framework. Eugene Okpere, Shell’s senior vice president
As a result of this consolidation, Atlantic and country chair for Trinidad and Tobago, also
LNG’s two biggest shareholders, BP (UK) and expressed satisfaction with the new agreement.
Shell (UK), will see their holdings in two of the He said he believed the deal would clear up
plant’s production trains shrink. However, the uncertainty about Atlantic LNG’s future, thereby
companies will continue to hold equity stakes in removing obstacles to firms that are ready to
the second, third and fourth trains of the facility. invest billions of dollars in gas exploration and
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago’s National production in Trinidad and Tobago.
Gas Co. (NGC) will see its holdings in Atlan- For instance, he speculated, it could help
tic LNG expand under the agreement. State- attract investors to Manatee, Trinidad and
owned NGC had previously held stakes in only Tobago’s section of a gas field that straddles the
two trains, but it has now gained stakes in the maritime boundary with neighbouring Ven-
other two trains as well as a consequence of the ezuela. Manatee holds about 2.7 trillion cubic
consolidation. feet (76.46bn cubic metres) of gas and is part of
For its part, the deal acknowledges that Chi- a larger structure, Loran/Manatee, that holds
nese Investment Co. (CIC) will not play an active another 7.3 tcf (206.7 bcm) of gas on the Vene-
role in the shareholder reorganisation process. zuelan side of the border.™

Week 49 08•December•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9