Joel Julien and Curtis Williams
bpTT has rubbished a report in the Trinidad Express Newspaper that the challenges at Atlantic LNG Train 1 are because of infighting between itself and the majority shareholder in the four LNG trains Royal Dutch Shell.
There is no “ongoing fight” between us and the majority shareholder of Atlantic LNG, bpTT said.
In fact, bpTT noted that it has been “working closely” with the other Atlantic LNG shareholders as well as the Government of T&T to explore the restructuring of Atlantic LNG as it believes “it offers an opportunity to improve operating efficiency and commercial alignment.”
“Contrary to what has been reported by one media organisation, there is no ‘ongoing fight between bp and the majority shareholder of Atlantic LNG,” bpTT stated.
Royal Dutch Shell and BP are the main shareholders in Atlantic. The government’s existing minority interest is through the state-owned Natural Gas Company (NGC).
“It is our goal to arrive at an outcome that improves value to the country while ensuring we have a competitive energy sector that can continue to attract the investments required to keep the production profile needed to satisfy downstream and LNG demand,” it stated.
In an emailed response to questions from Guardian Media Shell was equally dismissive of the suggestion.
It said, “Shell together with Atlantic, its fellow shareholders and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago have been working co-operatively on the commercial restructuring of Atlantic with a view to ensuring the sustainability of the entity as a world class LNG facility.”
It added that restructuring will enable longer term investments in the Upstream sector and in Atlantic. Once concluded, we believe that this will be a significant achievement, not just for shareholders, but for the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago as we secure a future for the local sector in our changing world.
The Guardian last Saturday reported exclusively that Train 1 will be mothballed for at least two years as there is no gas for it and will likely mean that the NGC would lose its quarter billion dollar investment. The story has not been denied by either the NGC or government.
NGC pumped $250 million in an attempt to keep the plant running despite the major shareholders insisting that they did not have natural gas to support the plant and that the multinationals would not put a cent further in keeping it alive.
“In terms of gas supply, following the disappointing results from our 2019 infill drilling program we have since refocused our production operations on maximizing production from our existing fields in the short-term, actively taking measures to offset natural declines. Even though these factors helped production at the beginning of 2020, natural declines continue to be a challenge as we manage our gas deliverability for 2021,” bpTT stated.
On Saturday the Energy Ministry stated that the Government has been in discussions with all of the shareholders for months concerning the future of Atlantic LNG.
“These discussions are ongoing and at a very sensitive stage,” the Energy Ministry stated.
The Energy Ministry’s statement came in response to a Guardian Media report that Atlantic LNG’s Train 1 plant will be mothballed in the coming weeks and could stay out of service for at least two years.
On Friday bpTT’s Cassia C platform arrived in T&T from Mexico.
Cassia C will be bpTT’s 16th offshore installation and its first offshore compression facility.
It will be installed next to its Cassia A and B facilities.