In an interview with EL TIEMPO, the former vice minister Belizza Ruiz refers to her management in the Ministry of Minesthe controversy over the decision to stop signing exploration contracts and the clash with the minister irene velez.
The latter was due to the controversial report on gas and oil reserves, which ensures that the resources would reach 2037 and on which it would be deciding not to sign more exploration and production contracts. Vice Minister Ruiz has confirmed on several occasions that the study has technical, economic and methodological problems and does not have bibliographic references. «I did not know the report, nor was I consulted for its preparation,» she reiterated.
«Beyond the responsibility of a person, the assessment of whether to make new exploration contracts, or not, will depend on an analysis of energy demand, particularly gas,» says the former official when asked about the report presented. and the decision not to sign new contracts. And she stresses that natural gas is a fuel within the energy transition that has been used in many countries to transition to less polluted technologies.
Ruiz clarifies that, in the first place, the gas supply in the residential sector must be guaranteed. «And there we have some shortcomings,» he says. He mentions the lack of gas pipelines to carry the fuel to the south of the country, where it is taken in cars.
Regarding the industrial sector, the former vice minister comments that there is still an industry that uses coal and, in order for it to make the transition, they must give incentives to the sector. Furthermore, «the industry is not going to do it if it doesn’t see that there is a safe and reliable supply,» she says.
