Trinidad LNG at record low utilization: Atlantic

OREANDA-NEWS. June 02, 2016. A growing natural gas shortage pushed Trinidad and Tobago's LNG production in the first quarter to 6.6mn m?, 17.8pc less than a year earlier, the energy ministry reported today.

The country's LNG producer Atlantic "is suffering badly" from the shortage, and is "failing to deliver on its LNG commitments," Atlantic chief executive Nigel Darlow said.

The curtailments have affected all four trains of Atlantic's 14.8mn t/yr liquefaction complex, and have also troubled the petrochemicals sector.

Atlantic is operating at "record low levels of utilization," Darlow said. The gas curtailments "are hurting the global reputation of Trinidad as a reliable producer of LNG."

Atlantic is owned by BP, Shell, China's sovereign wealth fund CIC unit Summer Soca and Trinidad's state-run gas company NGC.

Gas production in the first quarter averaged 3.596bn ft?/d, 11.3pc less than the corresponding period of last year.

LNG production totaled 28.9mn m? in 2015, 7.2pc lower than 2014, while gas output fell by 5.9pc to 3.835bn ft?/d.

Trinidad's government hopes to ease the curtailments by purchasing gas from Venezuela's offshore Dragon field, and has a tentative agreement with Caracas to establish a commercial venture to exploit gas deposits that straddle their maritime border. But Venezuela's deep economic and political crisis has hampered progress.

Trinidad crude production averaged 74,699 b/d in January-March, down by 10pc from a year earlier.