Shell Trinidad and Tobago Ltd., a subsidiary of Shell PLC, has made the final investment decision for the Manatee project, a 2.7 trillion cubic foot undeveloped natural gas field in the East Coast Marine Area (ECMA) offshore Trinidad and Tobago. Manatee is expected to begin production in 2027 and reach peak production of approximately 104,000 boe/d.

ECMA is home to the country’s largest gas fields producing Shell, including Dolphin, Starfish, Bounty and Endeavour. The Manatee gas field will serve as a replacement for the country’s Atlantic LNG plant, which will produce 15 million tonnes of gas annually.

Shell plans to expand its LNG business by 20-30% by 2030 compared to 2022, and LNG liquefaction volumes are expected to increase by 25-30% compared to 2022, as outlined at the Shell Capital Markets Day in 2023.

Shell operates Manatee and holds a 100% interest under the production sharing agreement for Sub-Block 6D. The Loran-Manatee field was discovered in 1983 and subsequently explored by four wells. Loran represents the part of the field in Venezuelan waters and Manatee represents the part of the field in Trinidad and Tobago waters.

The development will utilize a normally unattended installation platform in the ECMA, which includes eight development wells via a 110 km long, 32-inch outside diameter pipeline to Shell’s 3 billion cubic feet (approximately 1.4 billion cubic meters) onshore Beachfield gas processing plant, from where it will be transported to Atlantic LNG and the National Gas Co. of Trinidad and Tobago for use in the domestic market.