Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has announced that the National Gas Company of T&T (NGC) recorded a profit after tax of $3.285 billion in 2025, its highest in 11 years, declaring the result a sign of improved management under her administration.
Delivering a statement in Parliament yesterday, Persad-Bissessar underscored the scale of the performance, noting the figure is “double the profit of the previous year.”
She framed the result as evidence of a sharp turnaround since the United National Congress (UNC) assumed office, arguing that stronger governance and strategic leadership have reshaped the state energy company’s performance.
“What they could not have done in 10 years, we have done in 10 months,” Persad-Bissessar said.
Persad-Bissessar said the results reflected a “transformational approach” to the management of national assets.She contrasted the current performance with what she described as inconsistent results under the previous People’s National Movement (PNM) administration, citing a $2.1 billion loss in 2020 and a $1.3 billion loss in 2023.
“That period was marked by incompetence, failure and mismanagement,” she said.
According to the Prime Minister, the turnaround highlighted the potential of state enterprises with effective leadership.
“This is a clear demonstration of the enormous potential of Trinidad and Tobago when our national assets are properly managed, strategically guided and allowed to operate with a transformational vision,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar also emphasised NGC’s central role in the economy, noting its contribution to government revenue, foreign exchange earnings and industrial development.She credited the company’s leadership, including Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal and NGC chairman Gerald Ramdeen, saying the results are a “strong endorsement” of the Government’s management of the energy sector.
Beckles, Young credit PNM
However, Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles questioned whether the “record performance” could not be attributed to the restructuring of Atlantic LNG under the PNM in 2023.
The Prime Minister responded, “What I can confirm is that a company that your government, your previous government, drove into the ground in an effort to make the rich richer, while poor people suffered, that will not happen under my watch.”
She added, “And to answer your question, no, it is not because of anything you did in the ten years you were there.”
Former energy minister Stuart Young rejected Persad-Bissessar’s claim of credit for NGC’s record profits, arguing they stem from prior policies under the PNM.
In a statement on social media, Young said the 2025 performance “is due to the restructuring of ALNG” and higher gas prices.He insisted that “nothing is further from the truth” than the idea that the UNC drove the gains.
He also challenged NGC to disclose how much profit came from those factors, accusing Persad-Bissessar, Moonilal and Ramdeen of being “incompetent” and saying they have done nothing positive in the sector.
Ramdeen: Cutting wastage made huge impact
Speaking with Guardian Media following the announcement, Ramdeen, who was praised by Kamla Persad-Bissessar for his stewardship of the company, said he is humbled and is simply doing the job expected of him.
“What we have delivered is as a result of hard work, dedication and sacrifice to do the job that the people have wanted us to do here and discharge the responsibility that has been given to us by the Honourable Prime Minister. And I’m very proud of the results that we have achieved and that is the end of that story.”
Asked what he has done to bring about the profits, Ramdeen said it was a combination of decisions which marked a stark departure from how the state entity was run under the former PNM government.
“We cut the expenses of running the operations of the NGC by over $600 million. That is number one. We were the first board that dealt directly with the price of gas that was being charged to T&TEC. We took a decision at the NGC in the very first board meeting that the NGC will not sell gas below acquisition cost.”
He added: “One of the fundamental things that you ought to tell the public is that NGC, that was being run by the PNM, was taking the cheapest gas that they acquired upstream and was selling it to T&TEC.
“We took the cheapest gas that we had acquired upstream and sent it to Atlantic LNG, where we were making the largest profit on the sale of gas, so that we had a different approach that had nothing to do with restructuring.”
Ramdeen underscored that cutting “wastage” made a huge impact on the bottom line.
“We have cut the wastage across the NGC group that accounted for more than half of the profits because the NGC group – the way it was run before – was not the way it has been run over the last 10 months.”
He said it is egregious that former Energy minister Stuart Young is attempting to take credit for the financial turnaround by claiming that the restructuring of Atlantic LNG in 2023 under the PNM administration, is a major contributing factor to the profits seen today.
“The projected profits for 2025 were in the range of $300 million… $380 million. We have brought back $3.28 billion, so that their model, if they had continued in government after April 2025, that is what the people would have yielded. It is disingenuous to do what Mr Young is doing as a former Minister of Energy and a 45-day Prime Minister. It is disingenuous to do that.”
The NGC chairman said the company is prepared to continue doing the hard work and making the hard decisions.
Sizeable TTNGL
dividend payment
Meanwhile, Persad-Bissessar also announced to Parliament a special interim dividend payment of $154.8 million from T&T National Gas Ltd (TTNGL), describing it as a direct boost to the national economy and long-awaited relief for shareholders.
“I am very pleased to announce a special dividend of $1 per share,” she said, noting it will benefit over 11,500 investors.
She added the payment marks “the first dividend in almost four years” and reflects a shift in governance.
“This is a deliberate effort to deliver long-awaited returns,” the Prime Minister said, promising shareholders the option to receive payments in US dollars.
The Prime Minister lamented, “The share price collapsed from $30.50 per share to $2.40 per share under the PNM’s watch, the TTNGL shareholders lost 89 per cent of the value of their investment.”
