Trinidad and Tobago’s Dragon gas project, once considered key to restoring gas production in the Caribbean nation, was halted by the Trump administration due to its Venezuelan ties. Despite this setback, the country still has several projects in the pipeline that continue to progress.
This point was highlighted in a Trinidad News Day article published on April 24. The contention is that these ongoing projects also offer hope for the country’s gas future.
Shell’s Manatee field is the largest under development, holding 2.7 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, with first output expected in late 2027 and peaking at 600 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d).
bp’s Cypre project began production in March 2025, ahead of schedule, and will peak at 250 mmscf/d. Also in March, bp confirmed its Ginger project will proceed, aiming for first gas in 2027 with a peak of 350 mmscf/d.
The Coconut field, a 50/50 bp–EOG venture operated by EOG, is targeting 2027 for production from an estimated 1 tcf reservoir. Mento, another bp–EOG project from a similar-sized field, is expected to deliver first gas later in 2025.
In shallow waters, bp’s Frangipani discovery from 2024 is being prepped for development, though timing and output remain unknown.
Perenco is evaluating the commercial potential of the Onyx field located between Poui and Teak. The Beryl field, drilled by bp and EOG in 2024, is also expected to move to development, though no updates have been made public.
Shell plans to drill the Blackjack exploration well before the end of 2025.
In deepwater, the only project near final investment decision is Calypso, expected to produce 700 mmscf/d.
Calypso contains roughly 3.2 tcf of gas and was discovered by BHP in blocks 23(a) and 14 between 2016 and 2019.
Woodside now owns these blocks, having acquired BHP Petroleum.
On April 8, the U.S. government revoked the licenses granted to Trinidad and Tobago for the Dragon and Manakin-Cocuina cross-border gas fields. The licenses were previously issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The Dragon gas deal license was granted on October 17, 2023, and was due to expire on October 31, 2024. The Manakin-Cocuina license was granted on December 18, 2023. The Manakin-Cocuina field is the second largest on the Trinidad and Tobago-Venezuela border. It holds at least one trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed Caribbean leaders that the United States will not support any further regional reliance on Venezuela for energy.
