Matapal gas project : bpTT draws first gas from offshore Trinidad project

Oil and gas giant BP, through its subsidiary — bp Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT), has brought the offshore Matapal gas project in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) on stream.

BP said that the first gas was achieved ahead of schedule as well as within budget in spite of the restraints emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Matapal gas project is the second subsea development for bpTT, which is a consortium of BP (70%) and Spanish energy firm Repsol (30%). It features three wells, which have a tie back into the existing production platform of the Juniper gas project operated by bpTT.

The subsea tieback to the Juniper platform has helped the development costs and the associated carbon footprint to be minimized, said BP.

The Matapal gas project is located nearly 80km off the coast of south-east Trinidad and around 8km east of the Juniper gas project. It is contained in a water depth of 163m.

bpTT draws first gas from Matapal gas project, offshore Trinidad and Tobago. Image courtesy of bp p.l.c.

The Matapal project will draw gas from the resources discovered by the Savannah exploration well in 2017. It will supply gas into the Trinidad gas market.

BP said that the initial production from the Matapal development is estimated to be 250-350 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) after fully ramping up all the wells.

Claire Fitzpatrick — president of bpTT said: “Natural gas will play an important role in the energy transition and to the economy of Trinidad and Tobago for decades to come. This is why our team at bpTT has worked diligently to safely start up our Matapal project which we successfully achieved both under budget and ahead of schedule.

“We are committed to a strong energy future in Trinidad and Tobago and this project plays a critical role in delivering that.”

The fabrication work on Matapal started in 2019. The offshore gas project also involved the modification to the Juniper production platform along with the construction and installation of new subsea equipment.

According to BP, the hydrocarbons produced from the Matapal gas project will be transported to the Juniper production platform through a couple of 9km flexible flowlines.