T&T Needs Deepwater Exploration Stimulus, Analyst Says

• Production of natural gas, the main commodity in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), has been declining since 2015. Future gas output is projected to stay below 2017 numbers and then decline at a higher rate after 2024. 
• In order to maintain the same level of production in the mid-term, the country needs to stimulate the exploration sector and pour investments in less explored areas such as deepwater offshore T&T, says GlobalData. 
• According to the company’s latest report, ‘Trinidad and Tobago Exploration & Production, 2021,’ natural gas production in T&T is expected to grow by an average of 2% in the next three years and reach more than 3,400 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d). However, in 2024, production will start declining at a rate of 3% to a value of 3,200 MMcf/d in 2025, assuming no new projects are brought online to compensate. 
• Svetlana Doh, Upstream Oil & Gas Analyst at GlobalData, said: “There are 10 planned or announced projects expected to come online between 2020 and 2024, which will gradually supply 150 MMcf/d of natural gas in 2021 and almost 1.1 bcf/d in 2025. 
• The largest production growth is coming from offshore Colibri and Matapal fields, operated by Royal Dutch Shell and BP, respectively. Both assets account for almost 43% of overall additional production from future fields.

(Source: Offshore)