00:00As the topic on the development of the cross-border coquina mannequin gas field heats up with BPTT in Venezuela,
00:07Chairman of the National Gas Company, Gerald Ramdean, makes this revelation.
00:11What I can tell you, or what I'm able to disclose to you, is that the day before yesterday,
00:21members of the BPTT team from London who are at the NGC advancing talks with respect to the cross-border
00:29mannequin coquina field.
00:30I don't want to say anything more than that because I'm legally obligated not to disclose the details of that.
00:36But he states that the exploration of cross-border fields, namely coquina mannequin, Lauren Manatee,
00:42as well as dragon gas, is moving full speed ahead.
00:45According to Ramdean, work continues between the NGC in relation to BPTT and Shell.
00:50The conversation that now has arisen is that because of the memorandum of understanding that was signed yesterday
00:58that has been put out in the public domain by BPTT, there is a competition for the Lauren field.
01:06So there are other players.
01:07The one thing, no matter who the players are, the one thing that you can be assured about
01:12is that cross-border gas and the dragon gas has to come to Trinidad.
01:18The conversation has to be here.
01:21None of that gas can be monetized except in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:25The NGC chairman says that's because TNT is the only nearby country with the infrastructure to do so.
01:31He refers to NGC's pipeline system, the LNG plant which converts natural gas to LNG,
01:38and the hibiscus platform infrastructure.
01:41The hibiscus platform is the one platform through which the dragon gas has to come into Trinidad and Tobago.
01:49But Ramdean points to added advantages.
01:52The one thing that investors are looking for, no matter where you go,
01:55is a place where the rule of law is secure, where their investment is safe,
02:00and where they know when they invest their money, the democracy around which that is built is secure.
02:06And that is the attractiveness of Trinidad and Tobago, apart from everywhere else.
02:11Ramdean is also addressing a sentiment that has been shared,
02:14suggesting that a $3.2 billion after-tax profit attained by the NGC recently
02:20was due to the restructuring of Atlantic LNG.
02:23In giving his side, he says prior to April 2025,
02:27operations at the NGC totaled $1.8 billion, which has been reduced to $1.1 billion.
02:34TASA and PAN and sponsorships and everybody, everybody was down the NGC's throat
02:41about the lack of sponsorships and the cutting of sponsorships.
02:45That was $700 million in expenses that are now, you can take that $700 million
02:51and see it return to the shareholder.
02:54Ramdean also mentions the Trinidad region onshore compressor acquired in January of 2026.
03:01With their restructuring, there were times we could not put a molecule of gas into Atlantic.
03:07And the investment decision to buy the truck compressor allows NGC,
03:12for the first time, to be able to control the flow of gas into Atlantic.
03:17And Ramdean indicates a large increase in gas supply to Atlantic.
03:23The allocation that they talk about, right, which is 90 million standard cubic feet of gas
03:29that they brain about that would happen in 2027 when it comes into effect.
03:36The President can tell you today that over the last few months,
03:41by simply understanding the agreements and using them to the benefit of this country,
03:46we've been putting almost 200 million standard cubic feet of gas into Atlantic.
03:52Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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