<article><p class="lead">Trinidad and Tobago's LNG producer Atlantic expects to resume operations "shortly" after the four-train 14.8mn t/yr liquefaction facility was shut down on 16 June by a power cut.</p><p>"Power was restored the same night, and crews at the facility are continuing technical checks prior to undertaking the procedures to restart the trains," Atlantic said this afternoon.</p><p>"This outage has caused some changes to our LNG shipping schedule, which Atlantic is currently working through with our customers."</p><p>BP and Shell are the major shareholders in the Caribbean state's LNG producer located at Point Fortin in southwestern Trinidad. China's sovereign wealth fund CIC unit Summer Soca and Trinidad's state-owned gas company NGC are minority partners in the facility.</p><p>The <a href="https://www2.argusmedia.com/en/news/1923868-atlantic-lng-terminal-suffers-unplanned-shutdown?backToResults=true">unscheduled shutdown</a> occurred as the consortium is recovering from a three-year decline in production caused by a shortage of natural gas.</p><p>LNG production in January-February 2019 reached 4.96mn m³, up 2pc on a year earlier, according to data from the energy ministry.</p><p>February output of 2.47mn m³ was little changed from January.</p><p>Atlantic's output in 2018 reached 28.4mn m³, the highest since 2015, according to the energy ministry.</p><p>"We hope this is a short-lived shutdown that does not seriously interrupt the expansion of production that has been happening with the improved availability of natural gas," Trinidad's energy ministry told <i>Argus</i> today.</p><p>Trinidad's <a href="https://www2.argusmedia.com/en/news/1922190-shell-stays-course-on-trinidad-venezuela-gas?backToResults=true">gas production has been recovering</a> since November 2017 following a slide from a peak of 4.3 Bcf/d in 2010. The decline caused supply curtailments that eroded production of LNG, ammonia and methanol.</p><p>The current shutdown also coincides with a tentative plan to close 20pc of Atlantic´s capacity.</p><p>BP's infill drilling projects have failed to deliver at forecast levels to supply the oldest unit - Train 1 - of the facility after 2019, the company said in May.</p><p>Trinidad has agreed with BP and Shell to discuss restructuring Atlantic, and to try to forestall the shutdown of the train.</p></article>
