Shell plans subsea trenching at Manatee field

SHELL TT has announced the continuation of work to develop the Manatee project.

In an advisory notice issued on June 5, Shell said the MV Vox Amalia Hopper Dredger vessel is mobilising from Chaguaramas to the East Coast Marine Area (ECMA) to conduct subsea trenching activities as preparation works necessary for the installation of the nearshore section of the 32-inch Manatee pipeline.

The company added a smaller vessel, the Adel, will be providing support to the MV Vox Amalia. The notice showed a map of the coordinates where both vessels will be operating.

Shell said this activity should be completed in three to four weeks. Any vessels operating within this area are advised to maintain a berth of 500 metres.

Shell said upon completion of the work, the MV Vox Amalia and the Adel will return to Chaguaramas for demobilisation.

In a Facebook post on June 5, former energy minister Stuart Young said, "Work continues on Manatee. Thankfully, Trinidad and Tobago continues to benefit from the visionary hard work that we (former PNM government) did."

He added, "The ability for us to produce the gas from Manatee was negotiated successfully by me with the government of Venezuela in Caracas in 2019."

Young said, "We then engaged in complex negotiations with Shell and executed a new PSC (production sharing contract) with Shell in 2021."

In 2023, Young continued, government was able to secure a contract for gas supply for NGC (National Gas Company) from Shell from the Manatee field.

He recalled last July, announced its final investment decision for Manatee, green lighting the project for implementation.

In a statement at that time, Shell said the project will involve an installation platform with eight development wells.

The platform will be connected to a 110-km-long pipeline to the Shell-operated Beachfield gas processing facility. This will then be taken to the Atlantic LNG facility and to NGC for production for the domestic gas market.

Shell said Manatee will allow Shell to grow its integrated gas business by building on developments in the ECMA off the southeast coast of Trinidad.

The ECMA is currently home to Shell’s largest gas-producing fields, including the Dolphin, Starfish, Bounty and Endeavour.

Manatee will also provide backfill for the country’s Atlantic LNG facility. The release noted that increasing utilisation at existing LNG plants is important to maximising potential for the company’s existing assets.

The Loran-Manatee field was discovered in 1983, about 100 km off the east coast of Trinidad.

The field is at an average water depth of 105 metres/340 feet. The Loran field represents the portion of the field in Venezuelan waters and the Manatee represents the portion of the field in TT waters.

The Loran-Manatee field has an estimated 10.04 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas, with the Manatee field having more than 2.7 tcf. Manatee is expected to reach peak production of approximately 104,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d).

Shell's advisory on Manatee comes one day after the company announced the green light on its Aphrodite project which is also located in the ECMA.

Once approved, Aphrodite is expected to start production in 2027 with an estimated peak production of approximately 18,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) (107 MMscf/d).

"This project is an investment of over US$1 billion and secures our country’s energy security as the largest investment in decades."

Young said, "Despite the challenges we persevered and got it done. I am pleased to see it progressing as envisaged. Hard work, competence, honesty and integrity produced real results every time."