Trinidad and Tobago’s foreign exchange shortage has become a growing concern for businesses and consumers, but a major offshore gas project now in development could play a role in boosting the country’s US dollar inflows in the coming years.
This is according to energy expert Javed Razack, who says the Manatee gas project is expected to begin producing gas by 2027 or early 2028, delivering a major increase in national gas output at a time when production has been in decline.
“So the total that we produce right now, as you mentioned, is around 2,500, might be a little more than that now, maybe 2,600 or so. So you’re talking about producing around one quarter, maybe more than a quarter, of what our current gas production is today. So that’s significant, very, very significant.”
Beyond production levels, he said the project’s wider economic value could come from increased exports generated by downstream energy industries.
“But more importantly than the government share, in my opinion, is that once gas gets to the downstream producers, that’s Atlantic LNG, the other plants in Point Lisas that produce ammonia and methanol and so on, their production of those commodities go up, right? And once that production goes up and they begin to export more, they get more US dollars that flows into the country as well.”
Drilling on the Manatee project is expected to begin later this year, with first gas anticipated within the next few years, potentially bringing both increased energy output and additional foreign exchange into the economy.