CNC calls for independent audit

Caribbean Nitrogen Company (CNC) CEO Jerome Dookie is calling for an independent audit of its relationship with the National Gas Company (NGC).

This is meant to produce, what Dookie described as, an unbiased picture of the value chain in the interest of all stakeholders.

Dookie was responding yesterday to comments made by NGC chairman Gerry Brooks about why NGC had, on Wednesday, stopped supplying natural gas to CNC’s ammonia plant in Pt Lisas.

This followed the expiry on that same day of a gas supply contract between both companies. Prior to that, NGC had extended CNC’s contract four times – and therefore its gas supply – after the contract’s October 2017 expiration.

Brooks said, “The ammonia market has changed considerably, with demand slipping...So we are trying our best to ensure that nobody loses here. The deal which CNC has put on the table would see CNC winning and the people of TT suffering $2 billion to $4 billion of losses from an industry perspective. The country cannot afford that. The NGC cannot afford that.”

In a strongly-worded response, Dookie declared, “It’s time for the NGC to be transparent and stop hiding behind vague statements that don’t have any basis in reality. We do not agree with Mr Brooks’ position and completely reject his statements that accuse CNC of having unreasonable expectations, double-digit returns and the potential for billions of dollars of losses for the NGC.”

Claiming NGC continues to make misleading statements about its actions and finances, Dookie argued, “Brooks’ precipitously heavy-handed tactics have just negatively affected the livelihood of more than 400 people, thereby threatening to wreak further havoc on the economy of the country.”