Atlantic close to resuming LNG operations

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.

"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.

"This outage has caused some changes to our LNG shipping schedule, which Atlantic is currently working through with our customers."

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.

The unscheduled shutdown occurred as the consortium is recovering from a three-year decline in production caused by a shortage of natural gas.

LNG production in January-February 2019 reached 4.96mn m³, up 2pc on a year earlier, according to data from the energy ministry.

February output of 2.47mn m³ was little changed from January.

Atlantic's output in 2018 reached 28.4mn m³, the highest since 2015, according to the energy ministry.

"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 Argus today.

Trinidad's gas production has been recovering 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.

The current shutdown also coincides with a tentative plan to close 20pc of Atlantic´s capacity.

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.

Trinidad has agreed with BP and Shell to discuss restructuring Atlantic, and to try to forestall the shutdown of the train.