Atlantic LNG Terminal
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Atlantic LNG Terminal is an LNG export terminal in Trinidad and Tobago.
Contents
Location
Project Details
- Parent: BP, BG, Shell, NGC Trinidad
- Location: Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago
- Coordinates: 10.18106, -61.69189 (exact)
- Capacity: 15 mtpa, 2.15 bcfd
- Additional Proposed Capacity:
- Status: Operating
- Type: Export
- Start Year: 1993
Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day
Background
Atlantic LNG Terminal is an LNG terminal in Trinidad and Tobago.[1]
The export-oriented LNG terminal was constructed in 1996 and became operational in 1999 with its first LNG cargo to Boston. Since 1999, the LNG terminal expanded substantially and now contains four LNG trains. The second train and third train became operational in 2002 and 2003 respectively. The fourth train was completed in 2005 and was meant to strengthen Trinidad and Tobago's position as the largest exporter to the United States at the time. The entire terminal currently possesses a total production capacity of 15 mtpa.[2]
The terminal was constructed by Bechtel and cost an estimated $3.3 billion among all four trains.[3]
The ownership and shareholder structure of the terminal is complex and has changed many times since the project began. The ownership varies across the LNG trains of the terminal. Until 2013, Repsol was a major stakeholder until it sold all of its LNG assets to Shell.[4] The main shareholders are BP (British Petroleum), BG (British Gas), Shell, and NGC Trinidad and Tobago, with smaller subsidiaries also owning shares in the four LNG trains. BP owns ~37%, Shell ~25%, BG ~28%, and NGC Trinidad and Tobago ~10%.[5]
Gas Production
While Trinidad and Tobago was the world's seventh largest exporter of LNG in the world and largest LNG exporter to the US in 2015, the country's production and market for gas has struggled recently.[6] Production has declined over the past two years due to lack of upstream investment and a lack of recent infrastructure development,[7] despite efforts by BP and BG to rejuvenate the Island Nation's gas industry with upstream investments and projects.[8] Additionally, the shale gas revolution in the United States has exacerbated Trinidad and Tobago's struggling gas industry.[9]
In 2016, Atlantic experienced a 30% gas supply shortage and 2017 was predicted to be even worse, with up to a 35% gas shortage. The significant problem with this situation, besides the massive fall in LNG export cargoes, is that it creates a safety issue with the terminal. Turbines and compressors are turned on and off, or are put out of rhythm, which is not how they were developed, posing unknown issues and problems according to Atlantic's CEO, Nigel Darlow[10]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ Atlantic LNG Terminal, Wikipedia, accessed April 2017
- ↑ History, Atlantic, accessed September 2017
- ↑ Point Fortin Refinery / LNG Liquefaction Plant, Trinidad and Tobago, Hydrocarbons Technology, accessed September 2017
- ↑ Repsol sells LNG assets to Shell for $6.7 billion, Repsol, accessed September 2017
- ↑ Ownership, Atlantic LNG, accessed September 2017
- ↑ Trinidad and Tobago, The Oil and Gas Year, accessed September 2017
- ↑ Trinidad’s Atlantic LNG sees 2017 as “worst yet” due to gas shortages, LNG World News, accessed September 2017
- ↑ BP Resuscitating Trinidad & Tobago's Hydrocarbon Industry, Seeking Alpha, accessed September 2017
- ↑ Curtis Williams, "Trinidad and Tobago Signal BP, BG for Larger Stake in ALNG Train", Oil & Gas Journal, accessed September 2017
- ↑ Trinidad’s Atlantic LNG sees 2017 as “worst yet” due to gas shortages, LNG World News, accessed September 2017
