Trinidad and Tobago’s state-owned National Gas Company (NGC) has announced a major strategic reallocation of its $700 million corporate social responsibility sponsorship budget, shifting funds away from cultural and community event sponsorships toward urgent public needs including road repairs, hospital medication stock, public servant salaries, and national social safety net support. The announcement was made by NGC Chairman Gerald Ramdeen during a recent gas supply contract signing ceremony with Houston-based energy firm EOG Resources at Port of Spain’s Hyatt Regency.
Ramdeen used the public event to push back against widespread public criticism of the company’s earlier sponsorship cuts, which sparked outrage across Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural sector late last year. At that time, NGC withdrew funding from high-profile local organizations including the Bocas Lit Fest literary festival and multiple top steel orchestras across the country, drawing significant public pushback over the loss of support for community and cultural initiatives.
In his address, Ramdeen outlined the dramatic operational cost cuts the new NGC board has implemented since taking over leadership, noting that annual operating costs fell from $1.8 billion to $1.1 billion under the current leadership. He also pushed back against common narratives that attribute the company’s doubled profit growth over the past 10 months to restructuring at Atlantic LNG, the country’s major liquefied natural gas export facility. Instead, he credited targeted operational decisions and intentional leadership appointments for the improved financial performance.
A key example Ramdeen highlighted was the company’s decision to invest in a new truck compressor, a move that resolved long-standing pressure issues that had previously restricted gas flow into Atlantic LNG. Prior to this investment, he noted, infrastructure limitations sometimes prevented NGC from delivering any gas to the export facility. The new compressor has allowed NGC to take full control of gas flows to Atlantic LNG, and to offer compression services to downstream partners under existing transportation contracts. Today, Ramdeen noted, NGC is delivering nearly 200 million standard cubic feet of gas daily to Atlantic LNG, even ahead of the 90 million cubic feet per day of new production expected to come online from upcoming projects next year. This consistent, elevated output has already allowed the country to export an additional full cargo of LNG, generating more than US$50 million in extra revenue for the national treasury at current market prices, he added.
Ramdeen defended the budget reallocation, noting that the company receives 10 new sponsorship requests daily, and that the $700 million previously allocated to event and group sponsorships will now deliver far greater public benefit by addressing core public needs. “That money will now be taken to fix your roads, to put medicine in your hospitals, to pay your public servants to look after the social net of this country, and that is where it rightfully should be,” he said. The reallocated funds will also be returned to national shareholders, aligning with the company’s new mandate to prioritize broad public good over discrete cultural sponsorships.
The contract signing with EOG Resources marks a continued partnership between the state-owned NGC and the international independent energy firm, reinforcing ongoing collaboration to expand domestic gas production and export capacity in Trinidad and Tobago.