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HOUSTON, March 13 (Reuters) - BHP Group Ltd hasstepped up exploration drilling in deep water off Trinidad andTobago hunting for gas which could supply the country's AtlanticLNG (liquefied natural gas) plant in the 2020s, a seniorexecutive said.
The company expects to complete drilling of three wells inblock 14, located in its northern contract area, by the middleof this year, Niall McCormack, BHP's vice president forexploration, said on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energyconference in Houston.
"It's an attractive opportunity so we're looking to de-riskit a bit more, so we've got a bit more drilling to do," he said.
The company struck gas at the Bongos-2 well in the southlast year. BHP is the operator of the block with a 70 percentstake while BP Plc holds the remainder.
BHP has also found natural gas in two of three wells itdrilled in its southern contract area last year. The companyoperates the southern area with a 65 percent stake and RoyalDutch Shell Plc has a 35 percent stake.
"Overall, it's an area where gas is attractive because it'sadvantaged by the infrastructure of Atlantic LNG," McCormacksaid.
The gas could be produced in the middle of next decade whenthere would be demand from Atlantic LNG, he said.
Trinidad's Atlantic LNG, owned by BP, Shell, China'ssovereign wealth fund CIC and Trinidad's state-owned companyNGC, operates four LNG units with a total capacity of 15 milliontonnes per year.
However the plant has been running below capacity forseveral years, due to depleting supply from mature gas fieldsoff Trinidad, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said ina report last September.(Reporting by Florence TanAdditional reporting by Sonali Paul in MELBOURNE; Editing byLisa Shumaker)
