NGC gets share of ALNG trains 2, 3 shipments for first time

DESPITE earlier reports from the Minister of Energy saying that the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC) would have a ten per cent stake in Atlantic LNG (ALNG) trains two and three in the restructuring of the company in December 2023, the first two shipments, which went to Italy and Egypt respectively will only see a 5.7 per cent share go to the local gas giant.

Minister of Energy Stuart Young, however, assured that it was all part of the plan while responding to questions from Newsday via WhatsApp on December 13.

He said the restructuring, which took effect from October 1, was in its first phase.

“So this is another phase of the restructuring becoming operational where the state, via NGC, gets 5.7 per cent in trains two and three. At the final phase of the restructuring, the State, via NGC, will even out its shareholding as 10 per cent in all trains.”

He said NGC currently has an 11.2 per cent stake in train four.

He added that the new arrangements, in its first phase, would see the company getting cargoes from trains two and three, which never happened before.

In earlier arrangements the shares of trains two and three were split between bpTT and Shell. NGC had an 11 per cent share in train four and a ten per cent share in train one.

At the 15th sitting of the senate on April 16, Young said “This government of TT successfully negotiated across the whole board, trains one, two, three and four, we will now have a ten per cent shareholding, an additional four per cent at no cost to the people of TT.”

In a statement on the shipment of the first two cargos since the restructuring, NGC said the shareholding interest would increase when ALNG train four was included in the arrangement in 2027.