Shell Trinidad and Tobago Ltd has taken a final investment decision (FID) on the Aphrodite project, an undeveloped gas field in the East Coast Marine Area (ECMA) offshore Trinidad and Tobago. ECMA is a prolific gas-producing area.

Aphrodite will serve as backfill for the Atlantic LNG facility.

Shell said that Aphrodite will allow it to expand its integrated gas business incrementally by building on existing developments in the ECMA, home to Shell’s largest gas-producing fields in the country such as Dolphin, Starfish, Bounty and Endeavour.

“This investment is testament to our commitment to help secure the energy future of Trinidad and Tobago on several fronts,” said Adam Lowmass, senior vice president and country chair of Shell Trinidad and Tobago in a statement.

“By increasing the gas supply to Atlantic LNG, the project will not only serve to fortify the domestic gas market, it will also boost the local petrochemical and power-generation industries.” he said.

The project will consist of a single sub-sea tieback to existing the existing Barracuda subsea network. "Gas will be routed via Shell’s Dolphin A platform to domestic and foreign markets," said Shell.

Aphrodite, discovered in 2022, is expected online in 2027. It will have an estimated peak production of around 18,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).

Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal said: "We are pleased that Shell has progressed the Aphrodite project to FID. We are also pleased with the stated timeline of the project which aims to realise "first gas" by 2027 at a rate of approximately 107mn cubic feet (3.03mn cubic metres) per day."

He continued: "This new natural gas development project is important as it helps counter declining production from the maturing reservoirs in the Shell operated ECMA.”