Trinidad and Tobago is aiming to restore natural gas production to pre-Covid-19 levels by the end of 2022, energy minister Stuart Young said.
More than 1 Bcf/d of production will come from offshore developments by foreign producers BP, Shell, BHP and EOG, Young told an Energy Chamber conference this week.
The government will encourage further development over the next 12 months with licensing rounds for deepwater, shallow-water and onshore acreage, he said.
Gas production was running at 3.62 Bcf/d in March 2020, but has since fallen because of a pandemic-induced decline in demand. Output 2.81 Bcf/d in the first quarter of 2021 was down by 18.7pc year on year.
Young's projection suggests end-2022 production could approach 4 Bcf/d, replenishing supply to LNG exporter Atlantic and petrochemical plants.
Anglo-Australian BHP's Ruby development, commissioned in May, will deliver 80mn cf/d by the third quarter, the company's head of finance for Trinidad Soraya Khan told the conference.
Another 600mn cf/d will come from BP's Matapal and Cassia compression projects off the southeast coast of Trinidad starting in 2022, the UK major says.
Shell's Barracuda project in the east coast marine area and Colibri in the north coast marine area are projected to produce a combined 450mn cf/d by 2022, the company's manager for Trinidad upstream assets Ronald Adams said.
"Beyond 2022 there is a bank of upstream gas projects on land and in the shallow and moderate marine areas that are awaiting sanctioning," Young told the conference.
"These projects have the potential to produce up to 1.8 Bcf/d. In addition, there are the deepwater gas resources of BHP's Calypso project that are being appraised but are estimated with a potential production of 600mn to 1 Bcf/d."
The government is in "advanced negotiations" with Shell about contract terms for the Manatee field on the maritime border with Venezuela, Young said.
Manatee is "great prospect" with estimated recoverable resources of 2.7 Tcf, Adams said.
Trinidad still has "considerable" gas resources to be utilized, prime minister Keith Rowley told the conference.
"While oil may be up against a clock with less time on it, there is still significant potential for natural gas."
