Trinidad and Tobago is looking to restart a liquefied natural gas (LNG) unit that has been kept idle since 2020, reported Reuters, citing three people with knowledge of the plans.

It plans to restart the unit by the first quarter of 2027.

This unit, known as train one, forms part of the Atlantic LNG-operated LNG facility located at Point Fortin on the south-west coast of Trinidad.

The latest move follows the ownership restructuring of the LNG facility and negotiation of new gas supplies.

In the recent years, Trinidad’s joint venture company Atlantic LNG failed to access enough supply to maintain operations at its four liquefaction units.

The government has been urging its gas producers to boost production to help restart the idled 500 million cubic feet per day LNG unit.

Train one ceased production at the end of 2020 due to reduced gas supply from Trinidad's offshore fields.

Following four years of negotiations, the partners of Atlantic LNG reached an agreement in December 2022 to restructure the ownership of the LNG company. The previous ownership structure involved Trinidad's National Gas Company (NGC), bp, Shell and the Chinese Investment Corporation, each holding different equity stakes in various units of the company.

However, the partners decided to merge their individual equity stakes into a unified ownership structure.

Earlier this month, Trinidad Energy Minister Stuart Young was quoted by Reuters as saying that the restructuring of Atlantic LNG would be completed soon.

Young said: "We are in the process of finalising the definitive agreements. Hopefully, [it will be ready] at the end of [the] third quarter, start [of] the fourth quarter of this year."

The restructuring will enable Atlantic LNG to purchase gas from producers that are not plant co-owners. This would also allow companies such as Woodside Energy and EOG Resources to sell gas to Atlantic LNG, the sources said.