A pipeline from the Pointe-a-Pierre Refinery to Caroni will open around the middle of this year.

According to a report from the Trinidad Express the 34-kilometre pipeline designed to transport 1.6 million gallons of liquid fuels per day, including to Piarco International Airport, took 11 years to build and cost $1.3 billion and counting.

The report quotes NP officials as saying the pipeline is costing the NGC almost double what it has budgeted to pay for the offshore pipeline from Venezuela to Trinidad.

The article says the statement was made during the opening ceremony of a new gas station in Chaguanas last week.

It says the pipeline cost grew exponentially from about $53 million to its current billion-dollar value over three governments thanks to variations, cost overruns, changes in government and delays.