Trinidad awaits field plan to green-light Shell's Aphrodite gas project

By Curtis ‌Williams

Dec 9 (Reuters) - Trinidad and Tobago's government is waiting for a development plan from energy ‍producer ‌Shell to push forward the Aphrodite offshore gas project, documents seen by Reuters showed.

Shell said ⁠in June that it had made a ‌positive final investment decision on the discovery, which is expected to produce first gas in 2027 and have a peak production of 18,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

In a letter to Shell dated November ⁠24, Trinidad's Energy Ministry said the company had not fully met required conditions and that a field development plan ​must be submitted before the government would grant approval, one ‌of the documents showed.

Trinidad and Shell, one ⁠of the main gas producers in the Caribbean country, have been in negotiations for almost a year on extending four licenses that are part of Shell's prolific East Coast ​Marine Area where the Aphrodite discovery was made, according to the documents.

Trinidad set three conditions in order for Shell to obtain the five-year extension the company is requesting: a positive final investment decision on the discovery, approval of a field development plan, and a $4 million ​payment as ‍signature bonus for the extension, ​the documents showed.

"Shell remains committed to the development of the Aphrodite project after taking final investment decision earlier this year," a company spokesperson said on Tuesday, without providing further details. "We continue to work closely with all relevant parties."

Shell agreed to the bonus, according to one of the documents, but it was not immediately clear if it was paid. The project is still pending ⁠government approval, sources close to the project said on Tuesday.

Shell has a 45% stake in Trinidad's flagship Atlantic LNG project, which can ​produce up to 12 million metric tons per annum (MTPA) of liquefied natural gas, but has been hit by a shortfall of natural gas. That means Shell has not been able to get its full share of over 5.5 MTPA of LNG ‌from the plant.

Trinidad has been pushing operators to increase gas production to reduce the shortfall for Atlantic LNG and the country's petrochemical plants.

(Reporting by Curtis Williams in HoustonEditing by Matthew Lewis)