NGC’s shifting gears in global market

Mark Loquan, the president of the National Gas Company (NGC), last week sat down with Business Day and gave important insights into that state enterprise’s approach to the global economic crisis.

Mr Loquan did not seek to present a rosy picture. He acknowledged the challenging context within which one of the country's premier energy companies is operating. In October, it announced its first loss – $316 million – in a 45-year history.

Such an outcome was unsurprising, given the dampening effect of the covid19 pandemic, cyclical troughs in the petrochemical sector, and the NCG’s complex relationship with T&TEC, the latter of which Mr Loquan stated affects NGC’s cash flow annually to the tune of $1.5 billion.

NGC, it seems, is keeping our lights on by facilitating such debts on behalf of citizens.

In this regard, Mr Loquan made an important call for the issue of electricity subsidies to be addressed by the State. Though he pointed to adjustment of the electricity rate (US$0.05 per kilowatt hour), it is also instructive that the NGC is positioning itself to be at the vanguard of more sustainable practices that could reduce our electricity burden substantially.

While a rate increase might result in undesirable inflationary effects, changing habits and sourcing energy from renewable sources could address the problem from a more strategic point.

We therefore applaud NCG for taking steps to remain viable in a volatile international market through its green agenda.

To the NCG president says that agenda includes pushing the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) as a fuel not just for new cars but for existing gasoline and diesel engines. The company is also promoting energy efficiency, launching a mobile app for people to calculate their energy usage.

And through a subsidiary, NGC is facilitating renewable energy projects in TT, including the BP-Shell-Light Source consortium. The company also employs cutting-edge technology like infrared cameras to monitor its infrastructure for leaks, and is involved in reforestation projects.

“We are going to get more aggressive with these projects,” Mr Loquan said. “If you look at climate change and how that affects the Caribbean, it’s not an issue that can be ignored.”

With questions over the relevance of many aspects of the energy sector – such as the Point Lisas Industrial Estate – in the air, the NCG appears to have a plan to entrench its own relevance not only in the local context but also internationally.

“We are also positioning ourselves in a way where we can influence not just TT but the region,” Mr Loquan said.

We hope the NGC’s approach portends a comprehensive national approach to clean, sustainable energy, since that is the way the world will have to go given the increasing urgency of the climate crisis.

Recent political shifts, such as Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential elections over a climate-change denier, underline the fact that global green policy will be pushed in coming years.

Can NCG shift gears fast enough?