This Friday, the National Hydrocarbons Agency presented the Resources and Reserves Report with cutoff to December 2023, in which a drop in the proven reserves data for both oil and gasbut it is in the latter that the data fell most strongly.
(We suggest: The Government is preparing to squeeze ‘lazy’ oil areas in search of increasing reserves)
The proven volumetric reserves (1P) of gas fell, which means that the country has natural gas for 6.1 years. It is worth remembering that by 2022, the country had 2.82 cubic terapies (Tpc) of natural gas, while in 2023, the figure was 2.37 cubic terapies.
In addition, the relationship between reserves and production fell one year, explained Orlando Velandia, president of the Agency, which means that “If we did nothing” in six years the country’s gas would run out. This is the first drop since 2017 in terms of the life of the reserves that the country is experiencing.
In the case of oil, at the end of the year the country had proven reserves of 2,019 million barrelswhich implies a slight drop compared to the data of 2,074 million barrels that were recorded at the end of 2022. In terms of the relationship between natural gas reserves and production, the country would have 7.1 years.
This, according to Velandia, is explained by the higher production volume that is above that seen in the past seven years. This means that for the third consecutive year the reserve life index has fallen.
He also said that last year the replacement for every five barrels produced was 4.05 barrels.
With regard to natural gas, the country had a low incorporation of new molecules, that fail to compensate for consumption, which explains the drop in reserves, according to Velandia. The reduction compared to the previous year it was 58 cubic gigaftsVelandia indicated. This is the first time since 2019 that Colombia has a negative figure for the incorporation of natural gas reserves.
Now, Velandia pointed out that there has been progress in terms of drilling, both exploration and development, saying that in the In the last four years, 212 wells have been opened, of which 113 have been drilled since the arrival of Gustavo Petro for president.
Velandia pointed out that at the end of the year, the Contingent potentially recoverable oil resources (those closest to being taken into reserves) reached 2,783 million barrels, above the 2,384 million that the country had in 2022.
As in oil, In gas there was an increase in the quota figure, since it went from 5.8 cubic terapies in 2022 to 7.5 terapies at the end of last year, 29% more than the previous year. “If today we could recover the reserves we would have a very different report. But this is a first step,” said Velandia.
According to the president of the entity, the The main factor that explains contingencies is economic (39%), followed by technical issues (35%) and legal and/or contractual issues (24%). This is especially marked in offshore resources, that is, in the sea, which 98% are facing these contingencies.
The Minister of Mines and Energy, Andrés Camacho, pointed out that the ministry and the ANH are working on a package of 13 measures to increase the country’s reserves, addressing technical, regulatory, as well as social and environmental issues to allow this improvement.
DANIELA MORALES SOLER
Portfolio Journalist
