Underinvestment hampers Trinidad’s LNG push

The country’s efforts to reverse declining gas production are starting to bear fruit, but will not be enough to alleviate the tight LNG market this year

High prices and international diplomacy are pushing LNG producers to increase their output following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Trinidad and Tobago is among them, but its contribution is limited by the structural decline in its gas production following a lack of upstream investment, which has constrained LNG export volumes. Nevertheless, Trinidad is on track to raise its LNG exports this year, albeit by only a modest amount. In the longer term, the country has a pipeline of greenfield gas projects under development. Trinidad will export 20.8bn m³ of LNG in 2022, consultancy Fitch Solutions predicts. This would be a 6.7pc increase year-on-year and in line with an expected uptick in the cou