Shell starts production from Starfish

SHELL TT has announced “first gas” from its Starfish Infill Drilling programme for the second time.

Three years after an unsuccessful first attempt to develop sustainable production in the Starfish field, part of the East Coast Marine Area (ECMA), Shell vice president and country chair for TT Derek Hudson said in a release the company had made its “critical first step to rebuilding a sustainable gas supply to the country.”

Gas from this field will supply both the liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petrochemical markets in Trinidad as part of a larger ECMA strategy to deliver seven commercial gas wells in 2018 and up to 250 million standard cubic feet of gas per day to the local market.

The Starfish field was discovered in 1998, and in 2014, BG and its partner Chevron, began what was hoped to be peak production of 200 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd).

Instead, less than a year later, the company had to significantly lower its proved and provable reserves in Trinidad, after Starfish production was less successful than anticipated.

In 2016, BG’s assets in the field were transferred to Shell when the latter paid over US$50 billion to acquire the former. In 2017, Chevron sold its 50 per cent stake to Shell, giving Shell 100 per cent ownership of Starfish’s assets.

Once that was done, Shell moved forward with developing the field one more time.

The company did not respond to Newsday’s request about the actual quantity produced from this “first gas,” but did say production will be ramped up and at its peak will reach 250 mmscfd. “We continue to actively evaluate options to increase supply from our existing assets to help address the gas shortfalls,” Hudson said.

ECMA remains one of the most bountiful gas-producing areas in the country and while current production has been declining, it holds significant development volumes that could be brought on line in the next few years, Shell said.