The Caribbean region has a long history of oil and gas exploration and production. With the exception of Cuba, the majority of oil and gas activities have been centered in Trinidad and Tobago, dominated by BP, Shell, BHP and EOG, and recently there have been several significant discoveries in Suriname and Guyana.

As part of the prolific Eastern Venezuela Basin, Trinidad and Tobago is the Caribbean's largest producer of oil and gas has become one of the major natural gas development centers in the world.

Trinidad and Tobago has been involved in the petroleum sector for over one hundred years undertaking considerable oil and gas exploration activity on land and in shallow water with cumulative production totaling over three (3) billion barrels of oil.

As the largest oil and natural gas producer in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago’s hydrocarbon sector moved from an oil dominant to a mostly natural gas-based sector in the early 1990s.

Trinidad and Tobago houses one of the largest natural gas processing facilities in the Western Hemisphere. The Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited (PPGPL) natural gas liquids (NGL) complex is located in the Port of Savonetta. It has a processing capacity of almost 2 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day and an output capacity of 70,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of NGL. After processing the gas is then transferred to the various power producers for generation of electricity and to the petrochemical plants for use as a feedstock.

The electricity sector is fueled entirely by natural gas. With 11 ammonia plants and seven methanol plants, Trinidad and Tobago is the world’s largest exporter of ammonia and the second largest exporter of methanol, according to IHS Global Insight (2013).

Port Lisas, Trinidad Petrochemical Park

The energy sector continues to be integral to the long-term economic growth and development of the country contributing significantly to Government revenue, export earnings as well as GDP.

Atlantic LNG (ALNG) is the main user of natural gas, accounting for over 50% of Trinidad’s total utilisation of natural gas. Most of the gas received by ALNG is utilized in the production of LNG, while some natural gas liquids are also produced at the plant and transported along a pipeline to PPGPL for separation into propane, butane and natural gasoline.

Port Fortin, Trinidad Atlantic LNG

Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (Petrotrin) is a state-owned oil company in Trinidad and Tobago. The company was established in 1993 by the merger of Trintopec and Trintoc, two state-owned oil companies. A third company, Trinmar Ltd was merged into the company in 2000. Trintoc was formed from the assets of Shell Trinidad Ltd., and Texaco, while Trintopec was formed when the government purchased Trinidad Tesoro a joint venture between the government and Tesoro Oil Company which was created to purchase the assets of British Petroleum. These companies were formed from a suite of earlier companies which had themselves been formed from the companies which were first able to commercialise oil finds in Trinidad in the early twentieth century.

Petrotrin operates in land and marine acreage across southern Trinidad. In some instances, the company has engaged in joint ventures, lease operatorships, farmouts and incremental production services contracts to support its exploration and production activities. In 2004, Petrotrin was granted an automatic stake in all exploration and production arrangements with foreign companies in Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinidad’s oil production has declined in recent years to a current level of ~ 65,000 bbls/day. The Petrotrin refinery is being converted to a crude oil export facility and Petrotrin is being restructured into upstream/production and marketing units. With these changes to Petrotrin, Maribo believes that there will be numerous opportunities to expand its operations both onshore and offshore.