Shell has been selected by Trinidad and Tobago as the preferred bidder for a shallow water block, beating out bids from bp and EOG Resources, as reported by Reuters.

This award comes when Trinidad and Tobago has been facing challenges in feeding its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petrochemical plants due to declines in natural gas production.

Therefore, the government has organized bidding rounds while pressing producers to deliver the first output from offshore projects.

Shell and bp are the two largest shareholders in Trinidad’s flagship Atlantic LNG project with a capacity of 15.3 million tons per annum (mtpa). They have been trying to boost output to secure feed gas for the liquefaction trains.

According to Reuters, Shell is in negotiations with the government on terms for working on the Modified U(c) block, the most contested of 13 areas offered by the Caribbean country’s government in a shallow water auction last year.

The 13 areas collectively hold estimated resources of some 13.4 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, according to official data.

Notably, in the shallow water auction that concluded in May, EOG Resources was the sole bidder for the Lower Reverse L block and NCMA 4(a), while bp was the sole bidder for NCMA (2).