The president of Transportadora de Gas Internacional (TGI), Mónica Contrerasspoke with Porque La W about the possibility of import gas from Venezuela to Colombia within the framework of the alliance that President Gustavo Petro announced between state companies Ecopetrol and PDVSA.
According to the union leader, what is relevant about all the discussion that has taken place in recent days is that gas is being considered by the government as the key energy source to make the transition and that is an important point for the industry.
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Taking this panorama into account, Contreras explained that, in the long term, that is, between 2027 and 2031, The country has a lot of potential to increase its production to be self-sufficient in this hydrocarbon, but in 2026, which would be the short and medium term, there would be a gap between demand and supply of more than 100 million cubic feet per day.
“We have to look at what the supply options are to cover that deficit that we will have in the short term. One of those options is to increase imports because Colombia already buys gas from other countries through a project on the Atlantic coast and The idea is to continue expanding this way of importing, going from 400 to 530 million cubic feet per day.“said the president of TGI.
He added that the other option is to bring gas from Venezuela, although that country needs to develop the connection fields with the gas pipeline that connects with Colombia and Investments are needed that can be made with different partners and not necessarily with PDVSA.
Contreras recalled that until 2015 the Antonio Ricaurte gas pipeline, which belongs to that Venezuelan company, was used to bring gas from Colombia to the neighboring country. This gas pipeline has 225 kilometers of which 80 kilometers are in Colombia and they must be rehabilitated to be able to operate again.
However, he stressed that the most important thing now is to think about interconnection systems and therefore we must work hand in hand with the Energy and Gas Regulation Commission (CREG) that must specify the processes.
“To advance in the transition, the demand for gas that we have today must triple, but there must be certainty of supply. The transition with gas is the safest that the country can make and although there is a risk of shortages in the short term, this is solved with import options. The most important thing is to solve the interconnection problems, we need the country’s gas pipelines connected.”
Regarding the CREG, the president of TGI confirmed to Porque La W that Mr. Omar Freddy Prias has already been officially appointed as the new executive director of that entity. Let us remember that Prias was appointed a few days ago as an expert commissioner, but now he will be in charge of taking the reins of the commission.
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