BP starts up Trinidad compression project ahead of Juniper

BP Trinidad and Tobago has announced the start-up of the Trinidad Onshore Compression (TROC) project – one of seven upstream projects the British oil giant plans to bring online in 2017.

Full start-up will take place over the next few months. When fully on stream, the onshore compression facility will have the potential to deliver approximately 200 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. The facility is expected to improve production capacity by increasing production from low-pressure wells in bpTT’s existing acreage in the Columbus Basin using an additional inlet compressor at the Point Fortin Atlantic LNG plant.

The plant is 100% funded and owned by bpTT. Atlantic LNG Company of Trinidad and Tobago will serve as the operator. The project was sanctioned in July 2016 following agreements between Atlantic shareholders, the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago and other directly impacted upstream operators.

Bernard Looney, chief executive of BP’s upstream business said: “Delivered on-time and on-budget, this major infrastructure project is part of BP’s plan to bring 500,000 barrels a day of new production capacity online by the end of 2017 and paves the way for Juniper, our other major project start-up in Trinidad and Tobago this year.”

BP operates in 904,000 acres off Trinidad’s east coast. BP Trinidad and Tobago has 13 offshore platforms and two onshore processing facilities.

BP Trinidad and Tobago Regional President Norman Christie commented: “Though start-up will be phased, we anticipate an improvement in gas production in 2017 as a result of TROC and the planned start-up of Juniper later this year.”

The Juniper platform will take gas from the Corallita and Lantana fields located 50 miles off the south east coast of Trinidad in water-depth of approximately 360 feet. Drilling of the five subsea Juniper wells by the Diamond Ocean Victory semi-submersible rig started in May 2015. First gas from the platform is expected in 2017. Gas from Juniper will flow to the Mahogany B hub via a new ten kilometer in-field flowline which was installed in 2016.