For forty-five years, The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) has played an essential role in the development of Trinidad and Tobago’s natural gas sector. Mostly, NGC has been perceived as largely a transporter, merchant buyer and seller of natural gas. While NGC, as a company, has evolved in response to different mandates and changes in the operating environment, incorporating several different roles and responsibilities. After forty-five years, the NGC of today differs from the NGC of forty-five years ago, or even ten years ago.
History and Growth
Prior to 1975, there was no indigenous natural gas sector. There were a few pipelines in place to transport gas to Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) and the ammonia plant at Savonetta in Couva, then owned by WR Grace. The landscape changed dramatically in 1975 after the government’s decision to develop the gas sector as part of a wider strategy to make optimal use of the country’s oil and gas resources, and the minimisation of the burning of natural gas through flaring. Key to this strategy was the establishment of a company to purchase, transport and sell natural gas to industrial users on the West coast of Trinidad. Hence NGC was born.
