Agreement reached for Trinidad GTL project

PORT OF SPAIN, July 2, 2018 – Energy minister Franklin Khan has announced a gas sales agreement with NiQuan Energy that will allow its gas-to-liquids (GTL) project to move forward, local media reported Monday.

NiQuan will be supplied with 877,920 cubic metres (31 mcf) of gas per day, and is expected to be able to produce 2,000 bpd of GTL products. According to Minister Khan, “the gas sales contract [will] be done with a newly incorporated state company,” and not the National Gas Company, which normally acts as the country’s gas distributor.

NiQuan finalised negotiations to acquire NOC Petrotrin’s World GTL project in 2015, but development had not been able to move forward since, partly due to a lack of clarity on feedstock issues. With the project set to get back on track, a total investment of USD 125 million is expected, along with the creation of 700 jobs during the construction phase, scheduled to last 12 months.

Petrotrin is also set to receive a payment of USD 35 million. Minister Khan told Trinidad and Tobago’s House of Representatives that the deal allows the NOC “to salvage some not insignificant investment benefit from an investment which would otherwise not be operationalised.”

Read our latest insights on: