NGC’s Project Manager, Charles Thavenot, has noted enthusiastically that the NEO/Tobago Pipeline Project is NGC’s largest undertaking to date, costing between US$450 and US$500 million, and, indeed, a milestone in the life of the Company.

The NEO/Tobago Pipeline Project entails the construction of one two-segmented marine pipeline and a gas-receiving facility. With the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) completed and submitted to the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) the final approval of the CEC rests on the completion of the review by the EMA.   NGC is however preparing for construction works and has been completing the concrete-coating of 12,500 lengths of 12-inch and 36-inch-diameter pipe, each measuring 40 feet, at the Union Industrial Estate. This is in keeping with the requirement of international design codes, which requires pipe earmarked for construction in the marine environment to be stabilized via concrete coating when deposited on the seabed.

The first segment of the project involves the construction of a Gas-receiving Facility at Cove Eco-industrial Park and the Tobago Pipeline, which is a 12-inch-diameter, 33-mile natural gas pipeline that will run northwards from the offshore BHP Gas Processing Complex to the Cove Business Park in Tobago, and provide the island with its first taste of natural gas-based energy.  Conversely, the second segment involves the construction of the NEO line, which is a 36-inch-diameter, 58-mile pipeline.   This line will run southwards from the BHP Gas processing platform and terminate at the BUD Accumulator station in Mayaro.  On completion, the line will serve to connect the previously stranded northeastern offshore acreage to the existing NGC gas transmission network at Mayaro.