Established in 1975 and wholly owned by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (GoRTT), The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) is a diversified natural gas company. NGC is one of the largest companies in Trinidad and Tobago, with consolidated sales that accounted for approximately 4.3% of Trinidad and Tobago’s gross domestic product in 2006.
Our core business activity is the purchase, transport and sale of natural gas to the local downstream natural gas-based industries (excluding the liquefied natural gas, or LNG, industry). We market the natural gas we purchase primarily to local petrochemical producers of ammonia and methanol, power generation facilities and iron ore reduction facilities, which accounted for approximately 73%, 17% and 5%, respectively, of our total sales volume in 2006.
We are also involved, through our investment in Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited, or PPGPL, in the processing of natural gas for the removal of natural gas liquids, or NGLs, and the fractionation, or separation, of NGLs into NGL products such as propane, butane and natural gasoline for export to markets in North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean.
In addition, through our investment in Atlantic LNG Company of Trinidad and Tobago, or Atlantic LNG, we are involved in the production of LNG. We also provide tariff-based transmission services to shippers of natural gas that supply Train 4 of Atlantic LNG.
We own and operate a natural gas transmission and distribution network of approximately 760 km comprised of both offshore and onshore pipelines, with a current overall maximum installed transportation capacity of 3,800 MMscf/d. We are nearing completion of the Beachfield Upstream Development (BUD) pipeline, which, together with the acquisition of the Dolphin to Beachfield pipeline for BGTT, will expand our transportation capacity to 4,800 MMscf/d in the second half of 2007.
One of our group activities is the promotion and facilitation of investment in the local natural gas sector.
This role is carried out by one of our subsidiaries, National Energy Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Limited, which also provides industrial sites and supporting infrastructure, including marine and port facilities.