Colombia prepares to cover the deficit of natural gas that it will face in 2025 with the import of gas from Venezuela, with the reactivation of the existing gas pipeline and the expansion of the marketing blocks, reported Ecopetrol at the Andesco Congress 2024, in Cartagena.
The Colombian state company has identified a deficit of 83 gigawatts per day of gas, equivalent to 8% of national demand, which has led to accelerating connection projects and exploring supply alternatives.
Ricardo Roa, president of Ecopetrol, He pointed out that there is progress in the negotiations with the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA (Pdvsa) and its subsidiary Zenit, to enable the Antonio Ricaurte gas pipeline, which connects both countries.
He indicated that a physical tour has been carried out of the installation in the Colombian section, approximately 98 km, and it has been determined that the gas pipeline could be in operational conditions. between 10 and 14 months.
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“We are moving forward with PDVSA to enable the gas pipeline and the availability of gas would be between 30 and 50 million giga cubic feet per day, which corresponds to about 30 to 50 gigawatts per day of gas,” Roa stated.
Although this amount does not fully cover the deficit of 80 gigabytes of cubic feet per day, the connection of new production fields and other strategies will make it possible to compensate for the lack of supply.
Ecopetrol noted that preliminary budgets have been made for the repair and commissioning of the gas pipeline, as well as for the installation of gas treatment stations necessary to guarantee that Venezuelan gas meets the conditions required in Colombia.
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Venezuela is expected to deliver 150 million of giga cubic feet of gas per day to Colombia in 2025; therefore, there is an urgent need for regulatory flexibility by the Ministry of Mines and Energy to market gas blocks in the long term, “with an offer that could reach between 145 and 280 gigabytes per day within a period of 10 years.”
Roa clarified that it is not a gas debt on the part of Venezuelabut from an agreement in force since 2007, which allows the export of gas between both countries.
“This contract, with a validity of 20 years, establishes a legal framework for transactions, although it currently faces legal restrictions that are expected to be flexible soon”.
The president of Ecopetrol explained that the import plan gas from Venezuela It will be complemented by regasification and the accelerated development of national projects to ensure efficient supply and cover domestic demand in the coming years.
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