Needed — local labour force for NGC 56-inch gas pipeline

The utilisation of a local labour force will be a major factor in the construction of a 56 inch natural gas transmission pipeline which will run along the Southern Coast of Trinidad from Beachfield in Guayaguayare to Point Fortin. So said President of the National Gas Company (NGC), Frank Look Kin, as he addressed the signing ceremony between NGC and German company Europipe for the supply of Line Pipe for the 56 inch Cross Island Pipeline which was held at the Normandie Hotel yesterday. The signing is the culmination of the first phase of the Cross Island Pipeline project and represents an investment of US $43 million (TT $250 million).

Look Kin stated that the company intended to maximise local content not only in terms of labour, but also in terms of site surveying, detailed routing and transportation among other things.  It was noted that NGC would own, build and operate the line. An income will be derived in the form of a tariff received for the transportation of gas through this line.
Giving an overview of the Pipeline Project, he revealed that the pipeline would be used to transport natural gas comprising approximately 95 percent methane. It is expected to run 76 kilometres from Beachfield to the Atlantic LNG site in Point Fortin. This pipeline, he went on, will provide natural gas to the Atlantic LNG Train 4 initially.  However, it is expected that there will be enough spare capacity to provide feedstock to future gas developments. NGC Chairman, Keith Awong, expressed his belief that the signing ceremony signified the start of another phase in the expansion of TT’s Natural Gas Industry.

Over the past 28 years, he stated, NGC has grown from being the owner of a single 16 inch pipeline from Penal to Port-of-Spain to a company with approximately 625 kilometres of pipeline network. This network has a transmission capacity of 1.4 billion cubic feet per day. The new  project, he went on, would see the company entering into a major systems expansion wherein that capacity would be increased to 3.8 billion cubic feet per day by 2005. “This is an almost twofold increase in capacity,” he maintained. “This proposed 56 inch Cross Island Pipeline will be a key infrastructural development facility to transport up to 2.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from Beachfield to La Brea and Point Fortin,” he added. Awong revealed that presently 56 inch natural gas pipelines exist only in Russia, Poland, Iran and Saudi Arabia. “Our country is fortunate to house a project of such magnitude,” he maintained, adding, “this project propels TT onto the world’s stage like no other single activity in our energy sector history. Trinidad and Tobago will rank among the leaders of natural gas technology and development,” he stated.

Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, Eric Williams, commended NGC on its initiative. He noted that it would ultimately lead to TT becoming a significant entity on the world map in terms of the Natural gas industry. He especially praised the decision to make what he called, “a significant investment in human capital in TT,” by employing local labour for the project. “The way we are heading appears to be a win-win situation for all partners,” he said.