BP sanctions third subsea development offshore Trinidad

BP’s subsidiary, bp Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT), has decided to proceed with the development of its Cypre offshore gas project located off Trinidad and Tobago.

Announced last Saturday 24 September 2022, the decision followed recent meetings of Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, Stuart Young, BP CEO Bernard Looney, and incoming President for bpTT, David Campbell, where they discussed accelerating the project’s sanction.

Cypre will become bpTT’s third subsea development and it will include seven wells and subsea trees tied back into bpTT’s existing Juniper platform via two new 14-kilometre flexible flowlines. Drilling is due to begin in 2023 and the first gas from the facility is expected in 2025.

The Cypre gas field is located 78 kilometres off the southeast coast of Trinidad within the East Mayaro Block, at a water depth of approximately 80 metres. At peak, the development is expected to deliver average gas production of 250-300 million standard cubic feet a day (mmscfd). Production from Cypre will go towards satisfying bpTT’s existing gas supply commitments.

As explained by BP, this subsea development will capitalize on the existing subsea enabling infrastructure at Juniper allowing gas to be brought to market in a shorter time than a normally-unmanned installation (NUI) development. The new development will access power from Juniper, eliminating the need for additional power generation which allows production to be added without increasing bpTT’s operating emissions.

Incoming bpTT president, David Campbell, said: “Today’s announcement is a great reflection of our strategy in action – efficiently developing the resources in our existing acreage so we can bring new gas to the market faster, all without increasing operating emissions.”

Back in 2019, BP expected to sanction the Cypre project in 2020 but these plans have not materialized until now.