Woodside announces phased restart of Angostura gas production

THE WOODSIDE Energy Group Ltd announced a phased restart of production at its Angostura offshore facility began on August 4.

In a statement on Monday, the company said the facility had been shut in the previous week as a precautionary measure after a process safety incident.

The restart began after "relevant safety checks, which will continue as production ramps up."

Woodside said the safety of its personnel and its operations remained its top priority.

This incident disrupted the supply of natural gas to some plants at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate last month.

In a statement on July 28, the Energy Ministry said, "One of the major upstream natural gas suppliers in Trinidad and Tobago has had to shut in its gas production as it deals with an unplanned technical issue."

This unfortunate and untimely issue, the ministry continued, had led to a significant reduction in current gas supply, which in turn affected the end users of gas.

The ministry said this unforeseen event was being given the priority urgent attention necessary by the upstream entity.

"It is hoped that the situation will be resolved in the shortest possible timeframe."

In a statement on July 29, the National Gas Company (NGC) said it was working assiduously with its upstream suppliers and downstream consumers – turning crude oil and natural gas into thousands of finished everyday products – to manage the impact of this disruption.

NGC has engaged the TT Electricity Commission (T&TEC) and independent power producers to minimise the impact on the power generation sector.

NGC said an update will be given once information becomes available.

In a statement on July 30, Energy Minister Stuart Young said, "The upstream multinational oil and gas company is working around the clock to restore its production and supply of natural gas."

He added, "As and when there are further updates that can be provided they will be provided."

Young also said, "These types of unplanned safety incidents require proper diagnose and assessment by the operator and that process is currently under way."

He criticised the Opposition UNC for misrepresenting what had happened.

"Once again in a display of a complete lack of understanding and appreciation of the energy sector, the UNC opposition has come out celebrating an unfortunate and untimely safety incident with one of the multinational oil and gas companies operating in TT."

Young, the ministry and the NGC did not identify the upstream entity in any of their statements.