Young gets update on Woodside Energy’s LNG operations

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Stuart Young, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries. – File photo

ACTING Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young met with natural gas production company Woodside Energy country manager Kellyanne Lochan on September 2 to discuss operations at the company.

In a statement issued on September 3, the ministry said Lochan provided Young with an update on operations at Woodside Energy coming out of the recent asset upgrade at Greater Angostura as Woodside Energy continues to pursue opportunities to maximise value and safely optimise production and operating costs in Trinidad and Tobago.

It said marketing and commercial discussions with respect to the Calypso deepwater project remained ongoing under the company’s exploration and development portfolio.

Noting the company’s Pacific Basin position and recent agreement for the acquisition of Tellurian and Driftwood LNG, Young said the government was open to collaborating on opportunities that could emerge from TT’s strategic location in proximity to Atlantic and Pacific routes for LNG.

The statement said Young congratulated Woodside Energy on its latest LNG tanker, the Woodside Scarlet Ibis, named after TT’s national bird, which it said demonstrates the positive stakeholder relationship between the TT government and Woodside Energy.

The parties agreed to continue their collaborative relationship in the interest of navigating the global economic outlook.

The meeting came the same day as a report from oil and gas publication Oil Now said natural gas production was the lowest in 22 years in July. It said TT’s three major gas producers, bpTT, Shell and Woodside, contributed to what Oil Now said was a 24 per cent decline in production compared to the January-May average of about 2.58 bcf/d.

In response, the ministry said the production was affected by maintenance activities by the three major upstream gas producers. Where the Oil Now publication said there was a 24 per cent reduction, the ministry marked it at 22 per cent. The ministry said the activities that led to the decline in production were planned a year in advance and were essential components of compliance with government regulations.