How NGC Trinidad Used Satellite Pipeline Monitoring to Detect Emissions Across a 1,000 km Network

Owning and operating 1,000 km of gas transmission infrastructure across offshore and onshore environments creates a monitoring challenge that conventional methods cannot solve alone. Ground crews cannot cover the distance. Drone surveys are expensive and limited in scope. And third-party interference—excavations, construction activity, and vegetation removal—can damage pipeline integrity without any immediate visible signal.

For state energy companies with public accountability and growing regulatory pressure, the gap between what is happening in the field and what is known in the control room is a liability. NGC, the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago, understood this. They built a monitoring program designed to close that gap.

What they did

NGC partnered with GHGSat and Orbital Eye to combine two complementary satellite-based technologies into a single integrated LDAR program. GHGSat’s DATA.SAT provided high-resolution methane emissions data at the facility level. Orbital Eye’s CoSMiC-EYE delivered pipeline right-of-way surveillance to identify third-party interference risks before they escalate.

Together, the two capabilities gave NGC a monitoring program with the coverage, frequency, and precision their network demanded.

What you’ll learn

• How NGC structured a dual-technology satellite monitoring program across more than 25 industrial sites including oil and gas facilities and landfills
• What 12 satellite observation cycles revealed about emission activity across the NGC pipeline network
• How satellite data informed operational decisions at specific assets in near real time
• Why 30% of satellite observations detected active emissions and what NGC did with that information
• How this program positions NGC as a regional leader in methane emissions management.

“This monitoring project with GHGSat and Orbital Eye proved to be successful as it increased operational efficiency, reduced environmental impact, and informed our decision-making. NGC will continue to monitor its assets for possible methane emissions using satellites, in order to be able to mitigate any emissions.”

— National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago

Why this case study matters for your operations

If you manage pipeline infrastructure and want to know whether satellite pipeline monitoring can replace or supplement your existing ground-based LDAR program, this case study gives you a direct answer from a state-owned operator who ran the program, measured the results, and committed to expanding it.