Caribbean & Central America - September 2026

UK-based oil major Shell and Trinidad’s state-owned National Gas Company (NGC) have failed to reach agreement on the development of the Aphrodite offshore gas concession.

Shell had taken a positive final investment decision (FID) on Aphrodite last year, but according to a 24 August report by Reuters, the two parties were unable to agree a price for the project’s expected output of 100m cubic feet per day.

NGC acts as the country’s gas aggregator, buying upstream natural gas to supply downstream users such as the giant Atlantic LNG (liquefied natural gas) plant or various petrochemical operators. In this case Shell would be both an upstream producer and a downstream user (it holds a 45% stake in Atlantic LNG). But sources in the company told Reuters it had released a jack-up rig that would have been required to drill the first Aphrodite wells. “Shell is in ongoing negotiations and confirms the initial rig slot for Aphrodite has been released,” the company said in a statement to Reuters.

Trinidad is the largest LNG exporter in Latin America, but it has been struggling to respond to falling gas production from its mature fields. Current strategy is to boost domestic output and pursue joint development with Venezuela. The most important current development is Shell’s Manatee field, the Trinidadian portion of the cross-border Loran-Manatee gas accumulation that extends into Venezuela. On the Trinidadian side alone, it has reserves of 2.7 trillion cubic feet (tcf) and first gas is expected to flow next year. Other fields would also allow Venezuelan gas to be pumped by pipeline to Trinidad for processing there. Shell also intends to develop the Dragon field in Venezuela with estimated reserves of 4.5tcf and in June signed a deal to develop phase 1 of the offshore Loran gas field in Venezuela, reportedly containing around 1.7tcf. In August a consortium led by BP was awarded a licence to develop phase 2 of the Loran field. Phase 2 reportedly contains up to 4.0tcf. Also last month in Trinidad, NGC bought a 20% stake in the Manakin portion of the cross-border Manakin-Cocuina field. This field is estimated to hold 1tcf and its output will be divided, with 70% going to Atlantic LNG as feedstock and 30% to petrochemical producers.

Trinidad’s strategy includes bringing in more cross-border Venezuelan gas; preserving Atlantic LNG as a centre for the gas economy; and giving NGC a bigger upstream role. Perhaps most importantly, this involves moving away from a purely export-focused LNG operation towards developing Trinidad as a gas and petrochemicals hub serving the domestic economy. Some analysts argue that the failure to agree a commercial gas price for Aphrodite raises questions over pricing throughout Trinidad’s gas chain. Upstream producers will want higher prices, while downstream producers will seek to keep them low. The presence of companies operating in both upstream and downstream segments will complicate negotiations.

Shared natural gas fields

Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago share three cross-border natural gas fields – Loran/Manatee, Dragon/Hibiscus, and Manakin/Cocuina.

The Venezuela factor

Two developments are creating a window of opportunity for Trinidad and Tobago. In January US-orchestrated regime change in Venezuela removed former president Nicolás Maduro (2013-2026), bringing in Delcy Rodríguez, who is committed to more market-friendly policies to attract new oil and gas investment. Then, in August, the US administration led by President Donald Trump announced a controversial deal giving his government control of some 65bn barrels of proven reserves across 17 fields (see our sister publication, the Latin American Weekly Report for more details on this).