Trinidad and Tobago has introduced new fiscal measures to support the development of marginal marine gas fields, as the country moves to unlock stranded resources and strengthen long-term gas supply.
Energy and Energy Industries Minister Dr. Roodal Moonilal outlined the measures Wednesday during his feature address at the Society of Petroleum Engineers Trinidad and Tobago Section’s 2026 Mature Basins Energy Symposium. He said the marginal marine gas fields incentive, set out in the Finance Bill 2026, is one of the key policy tools being used to support mature basin rejuvenation.
“This measure will facilitate the development and production of natural gas that has been deemed uneconomic to produce or stranded,” Moonilal said.
The measure provides relief on royalty payable on natural gas won and saved from a qualifying marginal gas field. It reduces the royalty rate from 12.5% to 8% and allows expenditure incurred on a marginal gas field to qualify for a 30% uplift.
Moonilal said the incentive is relevant because much of the low-hanging fruit has already been extracted from Trinidad and Tobago’s mature basins.
Under the measure, a marginal marine gas field is defined as an offshore shallow-water field with recoverable gas of up to 300 billion cubic feet (bcf) and an internal rate of return of less than 15% as a standalone project.
The incentive only applies to fields that come on production after January 1, 2026. The field must also be certified by the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries as a marginal marine gas field.
Moonilal said the measure will benefit operators of several marginal gas fields with cumulative gas reserves ranging from 400 bcf to 1.3 trillion cubic feet (tcf).
Natural gas remains central to Trinidad and Tobago’s energy economy. It supports the petrochemical sector, liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, electricity generation, industrial activity, national revenue, and foreign exchange earnings.
For the first five months of 2026, natural gas production averaged about 2.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d). Moonilal attributed this to stronger-than-anticipated well performance and continued work by upstream operators to maximize production from existing assets.
Production for 2027 is projected to range between 2.3 bcf/d and 2.5 bcf/d. It is expected to reach about 2.7 bcf/d in 2028.
Moonilal said the improved outlook also reflects engagement between the Ministry and upstream companies to accelerate projects such as Cypre and Ginger, as well as the expansion of Manatee Plus. The projections do not include cross-border opportunities such as Manakin-Coquina, Loran, and Dragon. Moonilal said those projects could provide significant upside to domestic gas supply.
He said Venezuela recently granted Shell a license to extract 1.7 Tcf of natural gas from the Loran field for processing at the National Gas Company-owned, Shell-operated Beachfield facility. “Given the benefits to all parties involved, these arrangements are likely to become standard in the future,” Moonilal said.
The minister said fiscal incentives alone will not deliver Trinidad and Tobago’s development objectives. He said the Ministry has advanced a Cabinet-appointed oversight committee called the Energy Accelerator Hub to debottleneck approvals across the energy value chain and improve project execution.
