From Dallas to Uithuizen
NGT was established in 1973. The founders of the company were remarkable business people: the brothers Hunt from Dallas, Texas. In fact, the character of J.R. Ewing in the TV series ‘Dallas’ was based on the personality of one of the brothers.
The Hunt brothers made their fortune in oil and gas. Their company, Placid Oil, discovered the L10 gasfield in the Dutch part of the North Sea and planned to install a pipeline to bring the natural gas to shore.
At that time, the Dutch government felt that there was no demand for offshore gas, as the Groningen gas field had just been discovered. As a result, Placid Oil turned to Germany, but the time the pipeline had almost reached Schiermonnikoog, the Dutch government changed its point of view and decided the gas should enter the Dutch national grid. The pipeline was therefore diverted and connected to the Emmapolder in Uithuizen, north-east of Groningen.
By 2022, the Hunt family is still involved in NGT with approximately 12% of the shares. The other shares are held by oil and gas companies (28%) and investors (60%).
Nowadays, NGT owns nearly 500 kilometers of pipeline with a daily gas transportation capacity of approximately 42 million Nm3 and plays an important role in the delivery of natural gas that is consumed both within and outside the Netherlands.