00:00The NGC performs two roles for Phoenix Park. One as a shareholder but the other
00:06as a gas supplier to our gas processing facilities. And that gas that the NGC
00:11supplies, which they purchase from upstream, comes to our gas processing
00:15facilities at Point Lisa's. Dominic Rampersad, the president of Phoenix Park
00:19Gas Processors, as he spoke with TV6 News about the subsidiary of the
00:24state-owned National Gas Company or the NGC Group, which he says is more than
00:29just the sole supplier of LPG to Trinidad and Tobago. We extract what we
00:34call the natural gas liquids, which is the propane, the butanes, and the natural
00:38gasoline. That is the liquid that is contained in the gas. We extract that, we
00:44liquefy them, fractioning them into individual products, and we
00:48export 80% of those products. The balance is supplied into the local market. The
00:54gas that we extract those natural gas liquids from is then returned to the NGC
00:59which the NGC takes to the Point Lisa's estate for the manufacture of ammonia,
01:03methanol, iron and steel, AUM, electricity generation, etc. However, PPGPL is part of
01:10a multi-billion dollar earning group as Trinidad and Tobago has been
01:13experiencing a reduced supply of natural gas in recent years.
01:20So, over the last couple of years, there's been a lot of press coverage on this
01:30whole gas supply issue. And as you know, all of the gas that comes to Point Lisa's,
01:34or is destined for Point Lisa's, comes through Phoenix Park. I would say that in
01:39the last three to four years, we have gotten a very steady supply. It has not
01:45been as high as it used to be, you know, ten years ago, but then, you know, that has
01:49just the nature of the industry now. Mr. Rampersad said Phoenix Park has been
01:53partnering with the NGC on a routine basis. Over the last six months, there's
01:58been a lot of fluctuations in that supply, but a lot of it due to upstream
02:02maintenance work. Now that a lot of that has been completed as of May, since
02:07May, so the months of June, July and this month, we have gotten a very regular
02:11supply, 1.2 billion cubic feet per day. Liquid content has been good. Both Mr.
02:17Rampersad and the chairman of the NGC, Dr. Joseph Kahn, acknowledged the
02:22government's recent efforts to encourage an increase in local gas exploration, as
02:26well as its agreements for the supply of natural gas from Venezuela. However, Dr.
02:31Kahn said the NGC is also making the transition towards renewable energy.
02:36January also of this year, we would have launched NGC Green, which we would have,
02:41you know, re-examined the mandate of what we would have called NGC CNG, and now
02:47we have NGC Green. So it's about focusing in those sort of investments, you know,
02:52where we can have renewable energy, green energy, and we can save on the gas
02:57molecules, so that we can, you know, put into the pet care industry as well. Dr.
03:02Kahn said it is part of the NGC's strategic move to ensure that, quote, the
03:07gas supply is there, and we can utilize the gas supply, unquote.
03:12Jule Brown, TV6 News.
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