News
CNG vs. LNG for Tobago gas play
12/22/2011
Centrica mulling export options for uncontracted offshore reserves.
Lucy Hine in London
22 December 2011 14:40 GMT
UK-based Centrica Energy is weighing up whether to select LNG or compressed natural gas as the preferred export option for gas reserves near the Caribbean island of Tobago.
A decision on whether to be among the first developers to opt for CNG is likely to be made in the first quarter of 2012, industry sources indicated.
CNG, where the gas is compressed rather than liquefied so it can be discharged directly into the transmission network, could meet the needs of a number of small-scale Caribbean buyers that are hungry for gas but for whom LNG would entail a costly commitment.
Three CNG marine transportation providers are thought to be in the mix.
A site has yet to be decided for a gas processing plant on Tobago, the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, but talks are said to be ongoing with local landowners.
Centrica is understood to have ruled out sending its gas for processing at the Atlantic LNG plant on Trinidad partly because Tobago is closer to its reserves but also because ALNG is essentially fully utilised.
A Centrica spokesman said the new export project is still in its “early phase” and first gas is unlikely before 2016 or 2017. Centrica made its entry on the Trinidad & Tobago exploration scene in 2007. Over the past five years it has gained a significant share of the uncontracted gas awaiting development and last year acquired assets from Suncor Energy.
The UK company now holds operated equity positions in the undeveloped blocks 22, 1a and 1b, and North Coast Marine Area-4. It also has stakes in block 2(ab) and NCMA-1, which supplies gas to three trains at the ALNG facility.
State outfit Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Petrotrin) holds stakes alongside Centrica in its exploration block assets.Centrica said in November that it is also eyeing a North American LNG export play and has been examining a number of potential liquefaction projects.
Earlier this month the company signed an initial agreement with Qatar Petroleum to work together on energy investment projects.
