Petrochemical customers at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate consistently received gas supplies at or above their daily contracted quantities throughout 2026.
This is according to Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Dr Roodal Moonilal, who said he is unaware of any diversion of gas from customers at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate to the Atlantic LNG facility.
Speaking in the House of Representatives on Friday, he said that since April 2025, NGC has been taking positive steps to reverse the damage done to the downstream petrochemical sector under the last administration.
Responding to a question on the Order Paper on whether there had been a change in the national natural gas allocation policy, Minister Moonilal said NGC has fully met its contractual gas supply obligations to all customers.
“NGC has not changed its allocation of gas to petrochemical customers at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate and is not aware of any diversion of gas from those customers to the Atlantic LNG facility.”
The Energy Minister said NGC has met its obligations from 2025 to date and, during the same period, continued to meet its entitlement obligations to the Atlantic facility.
Dr Moonilal noted that since January 2026, there have been 20 separate downstream plant disruptions at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate, while NGC experienced two gas supply-related constraints, only one of which resulted in curtailments to petrochemical customers.
“Despite these constraints, NGC delivered gas at the contracted DCQ levels in accordance with the gas supply contracts on approximately 95% of days during the year. Petrochemical customers received supplies below their contractual entitlements on only 5% of days arising from a single gas supply constraint associated with a planned upstream activity that was coordinated with the Atlantic Train 4 schedule turnaround.”
Meanwhile, Minister Moonilal defended the recruitment process for HR Business Support Analyst Candy Roget-Martinez at Heritage Petroleum Company Limited, as the Opposition questioned her appointment to the position.
Dr Moonilal said Ms Roget-Martinez was recruited through a fair and transparent process and was found to be qualified for the position.
“Miss Roget-Martinez holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Major, and International Relations, Minor, from The University of the West Indies, a Master of Business Administration specialised in Human Resource Management from Nova Southeastern University, and a Master of Arts in Conflict Prevention Dispute Resolution from the University of Westminster. In addition, she is certified as a global professional in Human Resources. Miss Roget-Martinez met and exceeded the minimum qualification requirements outlined in the advertisement for the HR Business Support Analyst position.”
Dr Moonilal added that Ms Roget-Martinez has more than seven years of work experience in talent acquisition and human resources.