The National Gas Company Of Trinidad And Tobago Limited (NGC) was created by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago in 1975 as a State Enterprise to engage in the purchase, transportation and sale of natural gas in Trinidad and Tobago. Over the years, NGC’s business has grown to include offshore gas compression, and, since 1992, gas-based project development and investment promotion. NGC’s mission is national in scope as it is charged with the responsibility of ensuring the optimum development of the natural gas industry for the benefit of all the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

In 1998, NGC had total assets of TT$3 billion compared with TT$2.8 billion in 1997, which included pipeline infrastructure, port and marine facilities at Port Point Lisas, industrial sites and two gas compression platforms located off the south-east coast of Trinidad.

The Company has a diversified equity investment portfolio which seeks to ensure that the natural gas resources are managed for the optimal growth of the sector. The investment portfolio comprises:

• 100% shareholding in The National Energy Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NEC) which has significant port and marine facilities at Port Point Lisas. On January 1st 1999, NEC again became an operating entity with the added responsibility of developing and managing the new industrial estate and marine facilities at Brighton/La Brea.

• 100% shareholding in NGC Trinidad and Tobago LNG Company Limited, which has a 10% stake in Atlantic LNG, the company formed to develop the country’s first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant, which was completed in June 1999. NGC, along with a consortium of international companies including BP Amoco, British Gas, REPSOL International Finance BV and Cabot brought the project to implementation phase in world-record time. The LNG Project represents the first greenfield LNG plant in the Western Hemisphere in twenty-five years.

• 83% shareholding in the La Brea Industrial Development Company Limited (LABIDCO) which is the company charged to develop an industrial estate and port at Brighton/La Brea in south Trinidad.

• 51% shareholding in Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited (PPGPL), a gas processing plant which came on stream in 1991 with the capacity to extract 13,500 barrels per day of Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) from the country’s wet gas stream. A plant expansion has been undertaken to transport and process the additional liquids available from the LNG facility and from increased consumption locally. In 1999, PPGPL’s capacity was upgraded to 1.35 BCFd (Billion Cubic Feet of gas per day) and can now produce an NGL output of 33,500 barrels per day.

• 20% equity interest in TRINTOMAR, a locally-owned marine gas production company operating out of the Pelican Field.

• 18% shareholding in National Helicopter Services Limited (NHSL) which provides helicopter transportation services to and from offshore installations.

In 1998, NGC sold 836 MMscfd of natural gas to industrial concerns of which 62.10% was used in petrochemical production; 21.62% in power generation; 5.68% in metal ore reduction activity; and the rest in gas processing, refining, cement production, and manufacturing and commercial concerns. NGC has 100 customers, 83 of whom are in the latter sector.

Of the total natural gas supplied, 50.8% came from BP Amoco, 16.5% from Enron, 20.4% from British Gas/TEXACO and 11.9% from NGC’s two offshore compression platforms – NGC Teak and Poul. The remaining 0.4% was provided by small producers operating off the south-east coast of Trinidad.

NGC employs over 350 skilled persons in a highly technical environment, most of whom are involved in the construction, operation and maintenance of the gas transmission system in project development and investment promotion, and in offshore gas compression activities.