Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited (PPGPL), the Trinidadian company selected as the likely lead operator for Guyana’s Phase One Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) plant, is currently the subject of an investigation into the operations of its United States subsidiaries.
This is according to reports in the Trinidad Guardian newspaper.
The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) yesterday announced that PPGPL and its local partner, GuyGas Inc., had been identified as the first-ranked firms for the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the Gas-to-Energy project’s NGL plant.
According to the OPM, Cabinet has granted its no-objection to the commencement of negotiations with the firms with the aim of finalising an O&M arrangement for the facility.
The selection followed an open request for proposals advertised in January 2025 under the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board reference 124/2025/02. Five proposals were received and evaluated on administrative, technical and financial criteria. The proposal led by PPGPL and GuyGas was ranked first, having secured the highest technical score and the most advantageous commercial offer, the release said.
However, the announcement comes against the backdrop of governance concerns surrounding PPGPL in Trinidad and Tobago.
According to an April report in the newspaper’s business section, an investigation was launched into the operations of PPGPL’s US subsidiaries, leading to the suspension of three individuals and the resignation of another.
Returns
T&T NGL chairman Gerald Ramdeen said the probe centres on how shareholder funds were invested over several years in ventures that failed to generate returns.
“They brought a proposal to the current board asking for US$100 million to continue the laissez-faire, reckless behaviour that was there and continuing for the last four years, and they were quickly shut down,” Ramdeen was quoted as saying.
The report noted that PPGPL’s three foreign subsidiaries had accumulated losses exceeding US$154 million since 2020.
PPGPL, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Phoenix Park Energy Marketing LLC, acquired the natural gas liquids marketing assets of Houston-based Twin Eagle Liquids Marketing LLC in 2020. In 2022, another US-registered subsidiary acquired natural gas liquids terminals in Hull, Texas, and Rush City, Minnesota.
The losses have had a direct impact on Trinidad and Tobago NGL Limited (TTNGL), which owns a 39 per cent stake in PPGPL. According to the Business Guardian, TTNGL has not paid dividends to shareholders since September 2022, missing nearly six dividend payment cycles and fuelling concerns among investors.
Questions have also reportedly been raised over procurement practices involving an attempted purchase of oncology equipment valued at approximately US$2.2 million from a Miami-based supplier, though the transaction was ultimately halted.
Significant
In its announcement yesterday, the Guyanese government said PPGPL brings significant regional experience in natural gas liquids operations and will serve as the lead O&M operator for the NGL plant, while GuyGas Inc. will support local content development and the transfer of skills to Guyanese workers.
The intended arrangement covers both O&M core services and the long-term maintenance plan for the Phase One NGL plant, which forms part of the integrated Gas-to-Energy facility at Wales.
The project will process associated gas from the Stabroek Block to generate cheaper electricity and recover propane, butane and pentanes-plus for domestic use and export markets. Start-up of the plant is targeted for the first quarter of 2027. This project has experienced severe delays.
The OPM also underlined that Siemens Energy has been selected as the operator for the 300-megawatt combined-cycle power plant and associated facilities and will have overall responsibility for coordinating operations and maintenance across the integrated project.
According to the government, the proposed agreement with PPGPL and GuyGas remains subject to further technical and legal due diligence, including reviews by the Ministry of Legal Affairs and the Attorney General’s Chambers, before any contract is signed.
The OPM stressed that the engagement relates solely to the operations and maintenance of the NGL plant and does not include the supply and bottling of liquefied petroleum gas, the sale and marketing of natural gas liquids, or the development of storage and offloading facilities, all of which are being pursued separately.
Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited describes itself as a “leading natural gas processing, fractionation, and NGL marketing company in Trinidad and Tobago. Operating a modern cryogenic facility, PPGPL plays a key role as an NGL hub, managing the processing, aggregation, and fractionation of natural gas liquids”.
Kiskadee Watch attempted to get a comment from the local company, GuyGas on its inclusion in the contact but questions sent via Whatsapp and email in care of its General Manager, Siri Persaud remained unanswered.
In a letter in January of last year Persaud shared that the company was founded in 2004 and that it is a 100 percent Guyanese-owned family business and the only Guyanese company in Guyana that bottles and distributes cooking gas (LPG).
“GuyGas is proud to say that it has been essential for safeguarding Guyanese consumers from unnecessary and unjustifiable pricing strategies employed by its foreign-owned competitors for over a decade. While providing an alternative to consumers and businesses, it has maintained an unblemished safety record and product quality second to none, resulting in its AMERICAN STANDARDS GUYANESE VALUE,” Persaud had said in the letter.
Persaud had boasted that the company is proud “its unblemished safety record founded on the highest industry standards”.
These he said was inclusive of the quality of the company’s cylinders and fittings. He had said too that the company only sells DOT and ISO cylinders and, CE (Europe) approved regulators from a Danish company. The same company, he said, supplied GuyGas with packaged and approved hose and clamps.
The GtE project is estimated at a price tag so far of over US$2 billion has encountered numerous delays and soil stability issues at its Wales.
The GtE project is an undertaking comprising three key components: a 250 kilometre pipeline from offshore floating production, storage and offloading platforms, a 300 megawatt combined cycle power and natural gas liquids (NGL) plant, and 85 kilometres of 230 & 69 KV transmission lines with associated substations. The pipeline, designed to deliver 50 MCF/D (1,000 cubic feet per day) of gas, has a capacity for over 120 MCF/D.
The pipeline component encompasses a 250-kilometre, 12-inch pipeline from two Floating Production, Storage and Offloading platforms (FPSOs), to deliver some 50 MCF/D (1,000 cubic feet per day) of gas to shore, although the pipeline has the capacity for 120-plus MCF/D.
ExxonMobil has completed the laying of the pipelines and filled them with nitrogen until the completion of the integrated plant.
Despite the delays, the government has maintained its commitment to the project, which it promised in 2020 would reduce consumer electricity tariffs by 50% and transition the country from Heavy Fuel Oils to cleaner energy sources.
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